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FRANKLIN THE STATESMAN. 



PICTORIAL LIFE 



w 



OF 



BENJAMIN FEANKLIN; 



EMBRACINO 



ANECDOTES 



ILLUSTRATIVE OF HIS CHARACTER. 



EMBELLISHED WITH ENGRAVINGS. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON, 

FOURTH AND CHESNUT STREETS. 






Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by 

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, 

in the clerk's office of tne District Court of the Eastern District of 

Pennsylvania. 



STEREOTYPED BY J, FAGAN. 
PRINTED BY T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS. 




iF 'wfsr ■-• 



PEEEACE. 




9 

HE definition of history — "philo- 
sophy teaching by example," is much 
more correctly applies! to the history 
of a life, or biography, than to a 
general narrative, in which events are neces- 
sarily more the objects of description than 
character. And youth, who seem guided in 
their pursuit of reading by a sort of instinct, 
which directs them to that by which they receive 
the most distinct ideas and vivid impressions, uni- 
versally prefer biography. They not only like to 
hear how the great and wise thought and acted, in 
connection with public events, but to understand 
something of the private life and personal history 
of those who fill a large place in the annals of the 
world. 



(iii) 



t 

iv PREFACE. 

The life of Franklin, here presented, has been 
written with three leading objects : to bring forward 
important passages in his life, not usually introduced 
in abridgements, to give the juvenile reader the 
benefit of his good example, and to connect, as 
cause and effect, the errors in his life, which Frank- 
lin Jiimself ingenuously acknowledges, with the con- 
sequences of those errors. We have not presented 
him as a perfect model for imitation, for such a 
model is to be found in no human being. 

Free use has been made of the autobiography left 
by himself, and of the continuation of his life by 
Sparks, Stuber, and others. It is believed, that 
while much that is interesting has been necessarily 
omitted for want of space, this little work contains 
the most essential facts in his life, and is the most 
complete abridged biography of Benjamin Franklin 
that has ever been published. 

Philadelphia, April, 1846. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth of Franklin — Surnames — Franklin's Ancestors— Hi3 Uncle Benjamin — 
Acrostic on bis Name— His early attempts at Verse-Making— Character of hia 
Father— Franklin at School— Is put to his Father's Trade —Dislikes it, and 
visits Mechanics at work- Anecdote of the Little Pier • Page 9 



CHAPTER II. 

Unsuccessful Attempt to make a Cutler of Franklin— He is bound Apprentice to his 
brother James, a Printer— Unpleasantness of the Connection— Faults upon both 
Sides — Commencement of Franklin's Acquaintance with Collins— Criticisms of 
Franklin's Father upon his Prose— Franklin's Determination to improve— The 
Books he met— Stoop ! Stoop !— Franklin's Character and Experience as a De- 
bater, and his Advice on the Subject to his Son— His Exercises in Composition — 
Vegetable Diet— Anecdote of the Fish -"• 24 



CHAPTER III. 

Mr. James Franklin commences the New England Courant— Benjamin, hearing 
the Correspondents of the Paper converse about their Pieces, is induced to try his 
hand— His Success— Its Effects upon him— Arbitrary Proceedings of the Assembly 
—Remarks— Benjamin's Unfairness to his Brother— Breaks his Agreement, and 
leaves his Brother— Goes to New York, and thence to Philadelphia— The Grotesque 
Figure he made when he Landed— Engages with Keimer— Is flattered by Gov- 
ernor Keith— Visits his Father in Boston— The old Gentleman declines to assist 

him— He returns to Philadelphia ■ « 38 

(V) 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Collins goes to Philadelphia with Franklin— The Bad Habits of Collins— He be- 
comes an Expense to Franklin— And borrows Money which the latter had no 
right to lend— The End of Collins — Anecdote of the young Critics— Governor 
Keith sends Franklin to England— Ralph Accompanies him— Franklin Exchanges 
Promises with Miss Read— Disappointment about the Letters— Mr. Denham tells 
Franklin Governor Keith's Character — Franklin works at his Trade in London 
— His Temperate Habits -.,. .....^ 52 



CHAPTER V. 

Ralph's Character Developed — Remarks — Franklin's Good Conduct secures him 
Friends— Engages with Mr. Denham as Clerk— Returns to America — Anecdote 
of Mr. Denham— His Death— Franklin resumes his Trade— Keimer's Craftiness 
— Franklin's Industry and Usefulness— Keimer grows Captious and drives him 
away— Franklin forms a Copartnership with Meredith— Re-engages for a lime 
with Keimer— Goes to Burlington to print Money for New Jersey— The Story of 
the Roast Pig— Franklin and Meredith commence Business— The First Fruits — 
The Croaker ...67 



CHAPTER VI. 

Franklin's Early Temptations— The Junto— Assistance of Franklin by its Mem- 
bers—Unpalatable pi — Franklin's Newspaper — His Ability and Independence 
— The Sawdust Pudding— Difficulties-Franklin buys out his Partner— His safe 
Mode of Business and Living — Its Effects- Consequences of a Rival's opposite 
Mode— Franklin's Thoughts turn to Matrimony— Marries Miss Read— Anecdote 
of the China Bowl and Silver Spoon - 82 



CHAPTER VII. 

Franklin's Statue— Philadelphia Library Company— Standing before Kings— Scheme 
of Moral Perfection— Scheme of Order— The Speckled Axe— Cause of Franklin's 
Success in Life— Poor Richard's Almanac— Commences the Study of Languages 
at the age of Twenty-Seven— Visits his Relations— His Public Life commences 
— Various Institutions and Enterprises under his Auspices— Electrical Experi- 
ments — He draws Electricity from the Clouds 95 



CONTENTS. VU 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Franklin receives the Copley Medal, and Degrees from Yale and Harvard — Is 
elected a Member of the Royal Philosophical Society — Importance of Small 
Things— Caps and Mittens— Chosen a Delegate to the Convention at Albany, 
1754— Plan of Union of the Colonies— Franklin provides Wagons for General 
Braddock — Superintends Fortifications on the Pennsylvania Frontier— Chosen 
Colonel of the Militia— Review of the Disputes between Pennsylvania and the 
Proprietaries— Disaster to Franklin's Apparatus— Franklin sent to England as 
Agent of the Assembly— St. George on Horseback - 109 



CHAPTER IX. 

Franklin's Arrival in London— He finds his Fame has preceded him, and receives 
high Literary and other Honours— His Devotion to Philosophical Pursuits, and 
his Laborious Attention to the Public Service— Completes his Business— Declines 
the Invitation of Friends to remain in England, and returns to America — The 
Paxton Murders— Franklin's Important Services— Revival of Difficulties between 
the Governor and the Assembly— The Stamp Act— Franklin Loses his Election 
to the Assembly— Is deputed Agent to England— Strong Opposition against him 
—Flattering Compliment of his Fellow-Citizens— Sails for England 131 



CHAPTER X. 

Passage of the Stamp Act— Its Effects in America— Successful Resistance of the 
Colonists— Examination of Dr. Franklin on the Subject— Repeal of the Stamp, 
and Passage of the Declaratory Acts— Prophetic Letter of Dr. Franklin— Tax 
Law of 1767— Non-Importation Agreements— Franklin appo'inted Agent for three 
more Provinces — Becomes obnoxious to the British Government — Arbitrary 
Course of Lord Hillsborough— Franklin makes a Tour through different parts of 
Britain— Dines with the King of Denmark— The Electrical Controversy— Com- 
pliment to Franklin in Dublin 133 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Ttea-Party in Boston— The Boston Resolutions— " Rules," and " Edict"— The 
Hutchinson Letters — Duel in Consequence — Franklin's Declaration— Appears 
before the Privy Council— Franklin abused, and the Massachusetts Petition dis- 
missed—Franklin ejected from the Post Ofl^ce— Abortive Efforts to ruin him— 
Death of Mrs. Franklin-Petition of Congress— Franklin abused in Parliamenv 
by Lord Sandwich, and eloquently defended by Lord Chatham— Consulted by the 
Ministry— Franklin's Patriotism 148 



Vm CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Franklin's Return to America— Chosen a Member of Congress, and appointed to 
other Arduous Duties— Goes to Canada as Commissioner for Congress— The De- 
claration of Independence— Jefferson's Draft— Anecdote of the Hatter's Sign — 
Hanging together— Letters to Mr. Strahan— Appointed a Commissioner to reside 
in France, and embarks for that Country— Loan to Congress— Remarks......... 162 



CHAPTER XIII. 

State of Feeling in France — Reception of Franklin in that Country— Popular 
Respect— His Plain Habits— He forms new Friendships— His Extensive Corres- 
pondence — Anecdotes— Franklin recommends Lafayette — Secret Advances to 
Franklin from England— The Draper's Remnant— Duties of the Commissioners 
— Difficulties in the Performance— Lord Stormont's Insolence— Franklin's Philan- 
thropy-Treaties with France— Public Recognition of the American Commis- 
Bionera— Popular Enthusiasm 1% 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Rejoicings at Valley Forge — Franklin appointed Minister Plenipotentiary— His 
onerous Duties— Letter of Count de Vergennes— The Treaty with England- 
Preparations for Franklin's Return— His Arrival at Philadelphia— His Welcome 
Home— His Election as President of Pennsylvania— Is chosen a Member of the 
Convention which formed the Constitution of the United States— Speeches in 
that Convention — Letter to Washington — Franklin's Last Illness — Closing 
Remarks »„ ^ _, ...,.< ^. . J9i 



LIFE 



OP 



BENJAMIN FEANKLIN. 



CHAPTER I. 



Birth of Franklin — Surnames — Franklin's Ancestors — His Uncle 
Benjamin — Acrostic on his Name — His early attempts at Verse- 
making — Character of his Father — Franklin at School — Is put to his 
Father's Trade — Dislikes it, and visits Mechanics at work — Anec- 
dote of the Little Pier. 

ENJAMIN FRANKLIN was born in 
Boston, Massachusetts, on the 17th 
of January, 1706. He was thus, it 
will be perceived, twenty-six years 
the senior of George Washington ; 
and was quite an old man in counsel when 
the difficulties commenced between the then 
Provinces of Great Britain, on this conti- 
nent, and the mother country. 
The birth of Franklin is recorded in the old 
Public Register, still preserved in Boston, as having 
taken place on the 6th of January. Our young 

(9) 




10 LIFE OF 

readers may here be reminded that, about the middle 
of the last century, what is termed the " new style" 
in recording dates was adopted. By the new style 
the day of his birth is stated as his biographers 
generally record it. It appears farther, from the 
records of the Old South Church, to which his pa- 
rents belonged, that he was born upon a Sunday, 
and that, as they lived in Milk Street, directly oppo- 
site the church, he was baptized upon the same day. 
It is easy to know now why one man is named 
Smith, another Jones, another Brown, and so on 
through the whole catalogue, because names descend 
from fathers to children ; but it may have occurred 
to many of our readers to ask how the first man 
who wore a surname or family name, received it. 
Some circumstance, accidental perhaps, or some 
characteristic of the man gave him his title, and 
the tracing up of these curious matters of antiquity 
and biography has very naturally interested many 
of the wisest and the best of men. In our happy 
country, family or descent confers no privileges on 
one man over another; and Benjamin Franklin 
was one of those who earliest divested himself of 
prejudices and feelings which are not suited to a 
republic, and do not favour "the greatest good 
of the greatest number." But proper respect for 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. H 

our progenitors naturally flows from the divine com- 
mand, " honour thy father and thy mother ;" and 
Dr. FrankUn commences his own account of his life 
with the sentence, " I have ever had a pleasure in 
obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors." 
He made many inquiries among his relations in 
England for that purpose, and we shall briefly pre- 
sent the main results of that investigation. 

The name Franklin was most probably, as Dr. 
Franklin supposes, assumed by the family when 
others took surnames, all over the kingdom, which 
was about the commencement of the fourteenth 
century. We have alluded to the accidental cir- 
cumstances by which these names were selected. 
Sometimes, as in the Washiagton family, it was the 
name of an estate or manor; sometimes the word 
" son" or its equivalent was added or prefixed to the 
father's name, as John-son, Fitz-Herbert, Fitz being 
the old French for fils ; and sometimes, as in the 
case of Franklin, a word designating a class was 
adopted as a surname. Franklins were small free^. 
holders, or country gentlemen, and are spoken of in 
the old English poets Chaucer and Spenser. 

The ancestors of Benjamin Franklin lived in the 
village of Ecton, in Northamptonshire, for at least 
three hundred years previous to the time at which 



12 LIFE OP 

he made his inquiries (1758), and he saw in the re- 
gisters which he consulted, accounts of the marriages 
and deaths in the family from the year 1555. He 
ascertained also, that he was the youngest son of 
the youngest son, for five generations. Franklin's 
father had four brothers who grew up; two of whom, 
like himself, were bred to the business of dyers, 
while the eldest, as had long been the custom of the 
family, was a smith. 

Josiah Franklin, the father of our illustrious coun- 
tryman, married young, and came to Boston in or. 
about the year 1685. He brought with him his wife 
and three children : four more were born after her 
arrival in this country. Franklin's mother, the se- 
cond wife of his father, married in 1690, was Abiah, 
the daughter of Peter Folger, of Nantucket, and 
Benjamin was the youngest son of her ten children. 
Of his seventeen brothers and sisters, he states that 
he remembers to have seen thirteen sittingj together 
at table, who all grew up to maturity and were 
married. 

Franklin's uncle. Benjamin, for whom he was 
named, appears to have been the only one of his 
father's connexions who followed him to America. 
He had a great affection for his little namesake, and 
as this sentiment on the part of the uncle was reciip- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 13 

rocated with respect by the nephew, Uncle Benjamin 
no doubt had much influence in the formation of the 
future philosopher. Boys have a natural affinity for 
guns and trumpets, and little Benjamin was not 
exempt from this common inchnation. At four years 
of age his parents noticed the martial development, 
and in the pleasant family gossip between absent 
brothers, the dangerous fact was comnmnicated to 
Uncle Benjamin in England. He answered as 
follows : 

•' To MY Namesake, on hearing op his inclination to 
Martial Affairs, July Ith, 1710. 

" Believe me, Ben, it is a dangerous trade, 
The sword has many marred, as well as made; 
By it do many fall, not many rise — 
Makes many poor, kvf rich, and fewer wise ; 
Fills towns with ruin, fields with blood; beside 
'Tis sloth's maintainor, and the shield of pride. 
Fair cities rich to day in plenty flow, 
War fills with want to*-morrow, and with woe. 
Ruined estates, the nurse of vice, broke limbs and scars, 
Are the effects of desolating wars." 



a 



It is hardly to be supposed that, at the age at 
which master Benjamin received these lines he could 
have read them very attentively, or thoroughly have 



14 L I F E O F 

considered them ; but from the suggestions of so 
practical an adviser, it cannot be doubted that Frank- 
lin's character derived much of its sound common 
sense. Nor did Uncle Benjamin neglect to give his 
godson more general counsels. The following 
acrostic was addressed to him in the same year 
that the warninn; against the sword was written : 

"Be to thy parents an obedient son; 
Each day let duty constantly be done; 
N ever give way to sloth, or lust, or pride, 
I f free you 'd be from thousand ills beside ; 
Above all ills be sure avoid the shelf, 
Man's danger lies in Satan, sin, and self. 
I n virtue, learning, wisdom, progress make ; 
Ne'er shrink at suffering for thy Saviour's sake. 

*' F raud and all falsehood in thy dealings flee, 
Religious always in thy station be; 
A dore the maker of thy inward part, 
N ow 's the accepted time, give him thy heart ; 
K eep a good conscience, 't is a constant friend. 
Like judge and witness this thy acts attend. 
I n heart with bended knee, alone, adore 
N one but the Three in One, for evermore." 

The namesake made early answer to these epis- 
tles of his uncle, since we find, three years afterward, 
while Benjamin was seven years old, the following 
lines addressed him by his uncle, evidently called 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 15 

forth by some very creditable specimen of his god- 
son's composition. Tlie uncle writes: 

" 'T is time for me to throw aside my pen, 
When hanging sleeves read, write, and rhyme like men. 
This forward Spring foretells a plenteous crop ; 
For, if the bud bear grain, what will the top ! 
If plenty in the verdant blade appear, 
What may we not soon hope for in the ear ! 
When flowers are beautiful before they 're blown, 
What rarities will afterwards be shown ! 
If trees good fruit un'noculated bear. 
You may be sure 'twill afterward be rare. 
If fruits are sweet before they 've time to yellow, 
How luscious will they be when they are mellow ! 
If first years' shoots such noble clusters send, 
What laden boughs, Engedi-like, may we expect in the end ." 

Whether this most extravagant praise was in part 
playfulness, as it would certainly seem, or whether 
an uncle's partiality induced him to make extrava- 
gant predictions, Benjamin Franklin's useful Hfe 
certainly makes the above lines seem prophetic. 
Perhaps his uncle had principally in his eye the be- 
lief that his godson would shine as a poet. At the 
age of about thirteen, however, when Benjamin had 
written, among other pieces, two street ballads which 
his brother printed, and which, as he terms it, " sold 
prodigiously," his father checked his vanity. He 



16 LIF E O F 

told his son the faults of the work, in terms which 
we may suspect were emphatic enough, since, in 
reviewing his early life in later years, Franklin speaks 
of these verses as " wretched stuff." His father 
also said to him that " verse-makers were generally 
beggars." " Thus," says Franklin, " I escaped 
being a poet, and probably a very bad one." The 
experience of Franklin's uncle, Benjamin, might 
have given his father a horror of verse-makinof. 
Although a pious and worthy man, and one of far 
from despicable talents, poverty and affliction were 
the uncle's lot through life. We have made thus 
particular mention of him, because we find in Frank- 
lin's life many traces of the effect of his early inter- 
course with that relative. Franklin's acquaintance 
with the Scriptures, and the frequent illustrations in 
his writings, drawn from the sacred volume, were in 
a great measure due to his uncle, whose highest ef- 
forts in poetry were versifications of the Psalms, 
and whose figures and metaphors were from the 
Scriptures, like that of the grapes of Engedi, whose 
vineyards Solomon celebrates in his song. And in 
the acrostic and the lines on war we find the themes 
of many of Poor Richard's essays. Early episto- 
lary and other writing, and versifying, under the 
encouragement of Uncle Benjamin, aided in forming 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 17 

Franklin's character, while the sound sense of his 
father prevented his efforts from taking a profitless 
direction, as we have already noticed in the matter 
of the street ballads. 

Of Franklin's father there is a very pleasant por- 
trait drawn by the philosopher himself; which we 
copy for the excellent hints which it embodies, both 
for parents and children: 

" He had an excellent constitution, was of a 
middle stature, well set, and very strong. He could 
draw prettily, and was skilled a little in music. His 
voice was sonorous and agreeable, so that when he 
played on his violin, and sung withal, as he was ac- 
customed to do after the business of the day was 
over, it was extremely agreeable to hear. He had 
some knowledge of mechanics, and on occasion was 
very handy with Other tradesmen's tools. But his 
great excellence was his sound understanding, and 
his solid judgment in prudential matters, both in 
private and public affairs. It is true he was never 
employed in the latter, the numerous fimily he had 
to educate, and the straitness of his circumstances, 
keeping him close to his trade ; but I remember well 
his being frequently visited by leading men, who 
consulted him for his opinion in public affairs, and 

B 



18 LIFE OP 

those of the church he belonged to ; and who showed 
a great respect for his judgment and advice. 

" He was also much consulted by private persons 
about their affairs, when any difficulty occurred, and 
frequently chosen an arbitrator between contending 
parties. At his table he liked to have, as often as 
he could, some sensible friend or neighbour to con- 
verse with, and always took care to start some in- 
genious or useful topic for discourse, which might 
tend to improve the minds of his children. By this 
means he turned our attention to what was good, 
just, and prudent, in the conduct of life ; and little 
or no notice was ever taken of what related to the 
victuals on the table ; w hether it was well or ill 
dressed, in or out of season, of good or bad flavour, 
preferable or inferior to this or that other thing of 
the kind ; so that I was brought up in such a perfect 
inattention to those matters, as to be quite indifferent 
what kind of food was set before me. Indeed, I am 
so unobservant of it, that to this day I can scarce 
tell a few hours after dinner of what dishes it con- 
sisted. This has been a great convenience to me 
in travelling, where my companions have been some- 
times very unhappy for want of a suitable gratifica- 
tion of their more delicate, because better instructed, 
tastes and appetites." 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 19 

Franklin's mother was a discreet and virtuous 
woman, whom he mentions in terras of high respect 
and affection. The father died in 1744, at the age 
of 89, the mother in 1752, at the age of 85; both, 
it will be noticed, before their son, the subject of our 
book, obtained the high rank of which their early 
instructions laid the basis. Franklin, when he had 
become wealthy, caused a tablet with a suitable in- 
scription to be placed over their graves in Boston ; 
and this having become dilapidated, the citizens of 
that city caused a monument to be erected over the 
spot in 1827. 

Franklin was originally intended to be educated 
for the ministry; his early readiness in learning, 
and the advice of friends, including his Uncle Ben- 
jamin, determining his father upon that course with 
him. He was accordingly placed at eight years of 
age at a grammar school, where, in less than a year, 
he was advanced from the class in which he entered 
to the next above, and would at the beginning of 
the next year, had he remained, have been still 
farther promoted. But his father's large family led 
him to shrink from the responsibilities and expenses 
which a collegiate education for Benjamin would 
have involved; and he removed his son from the 
grammar school to one where more practical 



20 L I F E O P 

branches were taught — the writing and arithmetic, 
or commercial school of Mr. George Brownell. 

Here he remained a httle more than a year. He 
made great proficiency in writing; but like too many 
other boys, who fancy they may neglect what they 
do not like, he failed entirely in arithmetic, as indeed 
he had done at the grammar school before. As 
teachers and parents frequently have occasion to 
tell pupils that in after years they will be sorry for 
their negligence, young Franklin probably heard the 
caution without heeding it, while at school. But 
six years afterward, while an apprentice to his bro- 
ther, he was made ashamed of his ignorance of 
arithmetic. Probably some occasion arose for the 
use of it, and Master Franklin was found deficient. 
He repaired the mischief by studying at once, in 
his leisure hours, what he had neglected at school ; 
a mortification and labour which might have been 
spared, if he had attended to the proper thing at 
the proper time. 

At ten years of age — and perhaps his term of 
schooling was shortened because of its apparent 
inutility — Benjamin was taken home by his father 
to help him in his business, which was that of a 
soap-boiler and tallow-chandler; a trade he had 
taken up on his arrival in this country, because he 




FRANKLIN THE TALLOW CHANDLER. 




>^4^-tU /^■^ L M/^; 



-^ 

\y^ 









« • 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 21 

found his own, that of a dyer, little called for. As 
Benjamin was young and light, he was employed in 
the easier work, such as cutting wicks, filling moulds, 
attending the shop, and " going of errands." At 
this employment, though he very much disliked it, 
he remained for about two years. His father, 
kindly willing to consult his inclinations in all rea- 
sonable things, took him round to see other artizans 
at work, in order to observe his inclination, and 
give him his choice of a trade, if possible. Benja- 
min was very desirous of going to sea, which his 
father earnestly opposed, and this was another 
reason why he wished to fix his son's attention 
upon land. 

In the course of their walks together, the father 
and son visited joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, 
and . such other mechanics as then pursued their 
occupations in Boston. Franklin says, that ever 
after this it was a pleasure to him to see good 
workmen handle their tools. It wb.s also useful to 
him, as he learned so much by it as to be able to 
use carpenters' and other tools, when some trifling 
job required to be done and a workman was not 
at hand to attend to it. He could also, when he 
became Franklin the philosopher, construct httle 
machines for his experiments, while the idea was 



22 L I F E O F 

warm in his mind ; and probably he could do many 
such things much better than.he could direct another 
to do them for him, He found through life, as all 
of us may find, that there is nothing better for a 
man to learn, than to learn to help himself. He 
made it a rule to extract good and knowledge from 
everything he saw ; and his father's humble soap 
laboratory undoubtedly furnished to the sage and 
philosopher many hints for conducting the experi- 
ments and making the discoveries which have since 
astonished the world, and the benefits of which can 
never be lost or forgotten. 

There is one incident of his boyhood which we 
copy, in his own words, for the moral, which his 
father's correction impressed upon him, and which 
forms an excellent maxim, as a rule of conduct for 
boys and men : 

" I had a strong inclination to go to sea ; but my 
father declared against it. But, residing near the 
water, I was milfth in it and on it. I learned to 
swim well, and to manage boats; and, when em- 
barked with other boys, I was commonly allowed 
to govern, especially in any case of difficulty ; and 
upon other occasions I was generally the leader 
among the boys, and sometimes led them into 
scrapes, of which I will mention one instance, as it 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 23 

shows an early projecting public spirit, though not 
then justly conducted. There was a salt marsh 
which bounded part of the millpond, on the edge 
of which, at high water, we used to stand to fish 
for minnows. By much trampling we had made it 
a mere quagmire. My proposal was to build a 
wharf there for us to stand upon, and I showed my 
comrades a large heap of stones, which were intended 
for a new house near the marsh, and which would 
very well suit our purpose. Accordingly, in the 
evening, when the workmen were gone home, I 
assembled a number of my playfellows, and we 
worked diligently like so many emmets, sometimes 
two or three to a stone, till we brought them all to 
make our little wharf. The next morning the work- 
men were surprised at missing the stones, which 
had formed our wharf. Inquiry was made after the 
authors of this transfer ; we were discovered, com 
plained of, and corrected by our fathers; and, 
though I demonstrated the utility of our work, mine 
convinced me, that that which was not honest could 
not be truly useful." 



24 L I F E O F 



CHAPTER II. 

Unsuccessful attempt to make a Cutler of Franklin — He is bound Ap- 
prentice to his Brother James, a Printer — Unpleasantness of the 
connection — Faults upon both sides — Commencement of Franklin's 
Acquaintance with Collins — Criticisms of Franklin's Father upon 
his Prose — Franklin's determination to improve — The Books he met 
— Stoop! Stoop! — Franklin's Character and Experience as a De- 
bater, and his Advice on the Subject to his Son — His Exercises in 
Composition — Vegetable Diet — Anecdote of the Fish. 

;^HE result of the examination of 
trades, mentioned in the last chapter, 
was the pitching upon that of a cut- 
ler, which was just commenced in 
Boston by Samuel, the son of Uncle 
Benjamin, from London. But the sum 
which the cousin required as a fee for teach- 
ing Benjamin, as was at that time customary, 
displeased his father, and this pursuit was 
abandoned. We may fairly presume, however, since 
Benjamin Franklin never suffered any opportunity 
to acquire practical knowledge to pass unimproved, 
that even the short time he spent with the cutler 
taught him something which was afterward of 
service. 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 25 

At this time, 1717, Franklin's brother James re- 
turned from England, with a press and types, and 
commenced the business of a printer in Boston. 
The inclination which Benjamin had shown for 
books and reading, and the failure to fix upon any 
other occupation for him, determined his father to 
make him a printer. Benjamin had still however 
a desire for the sea, one of his brothers having 
embraced that pursuit. But he accepted the offer 
of an apprenticeship to his brother James, as he 
preferred printing to the business of his father. He 
was much averse to being " bound ;" but his father, 
anxious to guard against his going to sea, insisted 
upon it, and Benjamin at length gave way, and 
signed the indentures, while he was only twelve 
years old, by which he agreed to remain with his 
brother James until he was one-and-twenty. 

The connection between his brother and himself 
was not a happy one ; nor did it continue for the 
term for which the agreement was made. There 
were faults on both sides. Franklin writing, in 1771, 
when the coolness of the man had long displaced 
the pettishness of boyhood, and calm reflection 
induced him to do justice, says of his brother: 

" Though a brother, he considered himself as my 
master, and me as his apprentice, and accordingly 



26 LIFE OF 

expected the same services from me as he would 
from another, while I thought he degraded me too 
much in some he required of me, who from a brother 
expected more indulgence. Our disputes were often 
brought before our father, and I fancy I was either 
generally in the right, or else a better pleader, be- 
cause the judgment was generally in my favour. 
But my brother was passionate, and had often 
beaten me, which I took extremely amiss; and, 
thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, I was con- 
tinually wishing for some opportunity of shortening 
it, which at length offered in a manner unexpected. 
Perhaps this harsh and tyrannical treatment of me 
might be a means of impressing me with the aver- 
sion to arbitrary power, that has stuck to me through 
my whole life." 

In another place, Franklin admits that "perhaps 
he was too saucy and provoking," and that though 
passionate, his brother was not an ill-natured man. 

We have already mentioned the criticisms of 
Franklin's father upon verse-making, and the escape 
that the voung man made from becoming a bad 
poet. The same kind friend and good counsellor 
directed him, by just criticisms, and well-directed 
advice, how to improve his prose, and encouraged 
him in what every little man and woman should 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 27 

practise — the putting of his thoughts upon paper. 
A young man named John Colhns, whose acquaint- 
ance he made while in his brother's office, had a 
debate wqth Frankhn upon the question of "the 
propriety of educating the female sex in learning, 
and their ability for study." Franklin defended the 
sex; (Rollins maintained that their abilities are un- 
equal. The two young disputants were separated 
before their debate was closed, and the argument 
was continued by letter. These papers falling into 
'he father's hands, he read them, and without enter- 
ing into the subject in dispute, he took the occasion 
to talk to Benjamin about his style of writing. He 
observed that although Benjamin had the advantage 
of his antagonist in correct pointing and spelling, 
which he had learned at his trade, he fell far short 
in elegance of expression, in method, and in perspi- 
cuity, or clearness. Benjamin, who, as we shall 
often find occasion to say, never slighted an oppor- 
tunity to improve, saw the justice of his fathead's 
remarks, and became more attentive to his manner 
of writing, being determined to improve his style. 

As Franklin's writings are at once a model of good 
English, and a fountain of clearly arranged thoughts ; 
as his illustrations are pertinent and happy, his allu- 
sions witty or grave, applied with equal felicity, his 



28 L I F E O F 

arguments direct, his reasonings conclusive, and his 
positions plain, without being offensively, or as it is 
termed, " dogmatically" put, it is worth the young 
reader's while to understand, that this excellence 
was not attained without study and practice. Nor 
had he the advantages in early youth, of which 
nearly every one who takes up this book is in the 
possession, or has enjoyed. His scanty schooling 
we have noted. His thirst for reading was met 
only by a chance supply, a portion of which was 
apposite and proper, while by far the greater part 
was beyond his years. 

Among the books which he early read were, 
Bunyan's Works, Burton's Historical Collections, 
Plutarch's Lives, De Foe's Essay on Projects, Locke 
on the Understanding, and a treatise of Dr. Mather's, 
entitled " An Essay to do Good." In his account 
of his early life Franklin says, this latter work gave 
him a turn of thinking that had an influence on 
some of the principal events in his career. In a 
letter to Dr. Mather, the son of the author of the 
essay, written in 1784, when Franklin was in his 
79th year, he says : " That book gave me such a 
turn of thinking, as to have an influence on my 
conduct through life ; for I have always set a greater 
value on the character of a doer of good^ than on 



BENJAMINFRANKLIN. 29 

any other kind of reputation ; and if I have been, 
as you seem to think, a useful citizen, the pubUc 
owes the advantage of it to that book." 

So important are early impressions ! We cannot 
resist introducing an anecdote of Franklin's youth, 
which we find in the same letter, as its point was 
another of Franklin's early lessons : 

" The last time I saw your father was in the be- 
ginning of 1724, when 1 visited him after my first 
trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his library, 
and on my taking leave showed me a shorter way 
out of the house, through a narrow passage which 
was crossed by a beam over-head. We were still 
talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, 
and I turning partly towards him, when he said 
hastily, " Stoop ! stoop /" I did not understand him 
till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a 
man that never missed any occasion of giving in- 
struction, and upon this he said to me: ''You are 
youngs and have the world before you ; stoop as you 
go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps.'' 
This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently 
been of use to me ; and I often think of it when I 
see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon 
people by their carrying their heads too high." 

Many societies and lyceums have been organized 



30 LIFE OF 

in this country, among young people, avowedly 
upon the hints furnished in the experience of young 
Franklin, for eliciting knowledge in debate. It will 
therefore be both useful and interestincr to read what 
he says about the subject: "A disputatious turn," 
he observes, " is apt to become a very bad habit, 
making people often extremely disagreeable in com- 
pany, by the contradiction that is necessary to bring 
it into practice; and thence, besides souring and 
spoiling the conversation, it is productive of disgusts, 
and perhaps enmities, with those who may have 
occasion for friendship. Persons of good sense, I 
have observed, seldom fall into it." Those who 
personally knew Franklin have left the record, that 
he was not fond of taking part in debates which can 
reach no satisfactory or demonstrative termination ; 
and that he was polite in his manners, and never 
gave a pointed contradiction to the assertions of his 
friends or his antagonists, but treated every argu- 
ment with great calmness, and conquered his ad- 
versaries rather by the force of reason than assertion. 
How he formed such an ao;reeable manner of debat- 
jng we are informed in his own words. 

While an apprentice to his brother, and intent 
upon improving his style, as his father had recom- 
mended, he met with a treatise on logic, which gave 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 31 

an example of a dispute in the Socratic Method of 
arguing by question and answer, and convincing, or 
at least of defeating a man by his own admissions. 
Afterward the young student procured a copy of 
Xenophon's Memorabilia of Socrates, in which he 
found many specimens of the Socratic Method. He 
was charmed with and instantly adopted it. He 
dropped abrupt contradiction, and positive argu- 
mentation, and put on the humble inquirer. Finding 
this method safest for him, and very embarrassing 
to those against whom he used it, he says : " I took 
delight in it, practised it continually, and grew very 
artful and expert in drawing people, even of supe- 
rior knowledge, into concessions, the consequences 
of which they did not foresee, entangling them in 
difficulties out of which they could not extricate 
themselves, and so obtaining victories that neither 
myself nor my cause always deserved." When 
Franklin was a few years older, he had an antago- 
nist in daily argument, of whom he writes : " I used 
to work him so with my Socratic Method, and had 
trepanned him so often, by questions apparently so 
distant from any point w^e had in hand, yet by de- 
grees leading him to the point, and bringing him 
into difficulties and contradictions, that at last he 
grew ridiculously cautious, and would hardly answer 



32 L I F E O F 

me the most common question without asking first, 
* What do you mean to infer from that V " 

As Frankhn, the man, was remarkable for modesty 
and courteousness in debate, whatever errors Frank- 
lin, the boy, naturally fell into ; and as one purpose 
of biography is to communicate the lessons of ex- 
perience, and save others the necessity of going 
through disagreeable, and perhaps foolish trials, to 
lear.i what the old already know, we copy here 
Franklin's advice to his son upon the subject of 
debating : 

"I continued the Socratic Method some few 
years, but gradually left it, retaining only the habit 
of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence, 
never using, when I advance anything that may 
possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, 
or any others that give the air of positiveness to an 
opinion; but rather say, I conceive, or apprehend, a 
thing to be so and so; It appears to me, or I sJioidd 
not think it, so or so, for such and such reasons ; or, 
I imagine it to he so; or. It is so, if I am not 7nis- 
taken. This habit, I believe, has been of great 
advantage to me, when I have had occasion to in- 
culcate my opinions, and persuade men into mea- 
sures, that I have been from time to time engaged 
in promoting. And as the chief ends of conversa- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 33 

tion are to inform or to he informed, to please or to 
persuade, I wish well-meaning and sensible men 
would not lessen their power of doing good by a 
positive assuming manner, that seldom fails to dis- 
gust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat most 
of those purposes for which speech was given to us. 
In f^ict, if you wish to instruct others, a positive 
dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments 
may occasion opposition, and prevent a candid 
attention. If you desire instruction and improve- 
ment from others, you should not at the same time 
express yourself fixed in your present opinions. 
Modest and sensible men, who do not love disputa- 
tion, will leave you undisturbed in the possession of 
your errors. In adopting such a manner, you can 
seldom expect to please your hearers, or obtain the 
concurrence you desire." 

Franklin's time for improvement while in the 
printing-office was necessarily brief; but, by im- 
provement of the hours before work commenced in 
the morning, by reading and studying evenings, and 
by close and judicious economy of time, which, as 
he makes Poor Richard say, " is an estate," he ac- 
complished wonders — yet no more than any studious 
youth, so disposed, may do. In improving his 
English, it will be noticed, by the following extracts, 

c 



34 L I F E O F 

that he adopted the plan which is recommended in 
many, if not all school treatises upon rhetoric. 

" About this time I met with an odd volume of 
the Spectator. I had never before seen any of them. 
I bought it, read it over and over, and was much 
delighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, 
and wished if possible to imitate it. With that 
view, I took some of the papers, and making short 
hints of the sentiments in each sentence, laid them 
by a few days, and then, without looking at the 
book, tried to complete the papers again, by expres- 
sing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully 
as it had been expressed before, in any suitable 
words that should occur to me. Then I compared 
my Spectator with the original, discovered some of 
my faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted 
a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and 
using them, which I thought I should have acquired 
before that time, if I had gone on making verses ; 
since the continual search for words of the same 
import, but of different length to suit the measure, 
or of different sound for the rhyme, would have laid 
me under a constant necessity of searching for 
variety, and also have tended to fix that variety in 
my mind, and make me master of it. Therefore I 
took some of the talcs in the Spectator, and turned 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 35 

them into verse; and, after a time, when I had 
pretty well forgotten the prose, turned them back 
again. 

" I also sometimes jumbled my collection of hints 
into confusion, and after some weeks endeavoured 
to reduce them into the best order before I began 
to form the full sentences and complete the subject. 
This was to teach me method in the arranfjement 
of the thoughts. By comparing my work with the 
original, I discovered many faults and corrected 
them ; but I sometmies had the pleasure to fancy, 
that, in certain particulars of small consequence, 
I had been fortunate enough to improve the method 
or the language, and this encouraged me to think, 
that I might in time come to be a tolerable Eno;hsh 
writer: of which I was e.xtremelv ambitious." 

Franklin was always an earnest advocate of 
temperance, both in eating and drinking ; and on 
this subject we prefer to let him relate his observa- 
tions in his own words: 

" When about sixteen years of age, 1 happened 
to meet with a book, written by one Tryon, recom- 
mending a vegetable diet. I determined to go into 
it. My brother, being yet unmarried, did not keep 
house, but boarded himself and his apprentices in 
another family. My refusal to eat flesh occasioned 



36 LIFE OF 

an inconvenience, and I was frequently chid for my 
singularity. I made myself acquainted with Tryon's 
manner of preparing some of his dishes, such as 
boiling potatoes or rice, making hasty-pudding, and 
a few others, and then proposed to my brother, that 
if he would give me weekly half the money he paid 
for my board, I would board myself. He instantly 
agreed to it, and I presently found that I could save 
half what he paid me. This was an additional fund 
for buying of books ; but I had another advantage 
in it. My brother and the rest going from the 
printing-house to their meals, I remained there alone, 
and, despatching presently my light repast (which 
was often no more than a biscuit, or a slice of bread, 
a handful of raisins, or a tart from the pastry-cook's 
and a glass of water), had the rest of the time, till 
their return, for study ; in which I made the greater 
progress from that greater clearness of head, and 
quicker apprehension, which generally attend tem- 
perance in eating and drinking." 

Franklin did not however adhere to the vegetable 
diet, being too much a thinker for himself to be the 
slave of any man's system in a matter of this kind ; 
though the cardinal virtue, temperance, he never 
tbrsot. His return to animal food he relates as 
follows : 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 37 

"In my first voyage from Boston to Philadelphia, 
being becalmed off Block Island, our crew employed 
themselves in catching cod, and hauled up a great 
number. Till then, I had stuck to my resolution to 
eat nothing that had had life ; and on this occasion 
I considered, according to my master Tryon, the 
taking every fish as a kind of unprovoked murder 
since none of them had, nor could do us any injury 
that might justify this massacre. All this seemed 
very reasonable. But I had been formerly a great 
lover of fish, and when it came out of the frying- 
pan it smelt admirably well. I balanced some time 
between principle and inclination, till recollecting 
that, when the fish were opened, I saw smaller fish 
taken out of their stomachs ; then, thought I, ' If 
you eat one another, I don't see why we may not 
eat you.' So I dined upon cod very heartily, and 
have since continued to eat as other people ; return- 
ing only now and then occasionally to a vegetable 
diet." 



38 



LIFE OP 



CHArTER III. 

Mr, James Franklin commences the New Eng-land Courant — Benjamin 
hearing the Correspondents of the Paper talk about their Pieces, is 
induced to try his hand — His Success — Its EiTccts upon him — Arbi- 
trary Proceeding's of the Assembly — Remarks — Benjamin's Unfair- 
ness to his Brother — Breaks his Agreement and leaves his Brother 
— Goes to New York, and thence to Philadelphia — The grotesque 
fiofure he made when he landed — Entrages with Keimer — Is flattered 
by Gov. Keith — Visits his Father in Boston — The old gentleman 
declines to assist him — He returns to Philadelphia. 



'H^ 



^^RANKLIN'S apprenticeship to a 
printer gave him more access to 
books than he had before enjoyed, 
both by his acquaintance with otlier 
apprentices, and by the friendship of 
gentlemen, to whom his studious liabits and 
correct deportment recommended him. Of 
these advantages he was careful to avail 
himself; and in the selection of books he 
showed a judgment and wisdom far beyond his years, 
reading and studying those chiefly which would 
repair the deficiencies in his education, which existed 
partly from his previous limited advantages, and 
partly from his negligence in improving the oppor- 





FRAKKLIN THE FRINTEK. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 39 

tunities he had enjoyed. His brother, in 1721, 
commenced the pubhcation of a newspaper, the 
New England Courant, the fourth which had ap- 
peared in America, where there are now so very 
many. This seemed to open a new era in our 
young philosopher's life. 

The gentlemen who wrote for the Courant were 
in the habit of visiting the office, and conversing 
about the manner in which the public spoke of their 
communications to tlie paper; and these conversa- 
tions were carried on in the hearing of the appren- 
tice, without any suspicion that he listened or was 
interested in them. But hearing others talk of their 
writings, prompted young Franklin to attempt and 
see what he could do in the same way. As he was 
but a boy, and suspected that his brother would 
object to printing anything which he knew to be 
his, Benjamin disguised his handwriting, and put 
the paper at night under the door of the office. It 
was found in the morning, and laid before the gen- 
tlemen for examination and comment ; and the 
unsuspected writer, while he stood by at his work, 
had the exquisite pleasure of hearing their com- 
mendation of the piece, and their guesses at the 
author's name. In giving their opinions as to who 
wrote it, Benjamin heard them mention nobody but 



40 L I F E O F 

men of some reputation for learning and ingenuity. 
Of course, after such encouragement he continued 
to write. He kept his secret till, as he says, all his 
" fund of sense for such performances was ex- 
hausted." Then having, to use a famihar expres- 
sion, written all he knew, he discovered himself as 
the author. 

After this the gentlemen began to treat the young 
apprentice with consideration, as something more 
than a mere boy. His brother was not, however, 
altogether pleased with the turn matters had taken. 
He was afraid, and probably with justice, that this 
success might tend to make Benjamin too vain. 
Franklin admits that at this time commenced the 
difficulties between himself and his brother, which 
resulted in the dissolution of the connection. The 
circumstances under which the separation took place, 
embraced an act of unfairness on the part of Ben- 
jamin, which he honestly characterizes as one of 
the errors of his life. 

His brother had printed some articles in his paper 
which gave offence to the Provincial government, 
and for one of them, by a very arbitrary mode of 
proceeding, the printer was imprisoned for a month. 
During this month Benjamin had charge of the 
paper, and inserted in it some articles against the 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 41 

government, which, he says, his brother took very 
kindly, while they led others to look upon the young 
man in an unfavourable light, as a youth who had 
a turn for libelling and satire. At the end of the 
month his brother's discharge took place, accompa- 
nied with the arbitrary order that " James Franklin 
should no longer print the newspaper called the 
New En()[land Courant." 

This took place in 1722, or the year following. 
Such stretches of power, and arbitrary disregard 
of the rights, and infringements upon the property 
and liberty of citizens, were the causes which silently 
prepared the way for the " Declaration of Indepen- 
dence;" as, in a colony, it seems impossible that 
people should enjoy equal protection with their 
fellow-citizens in the mother country. Perhaps this 
very difficulty of his brother with the Provincial 
government was among the circumstances which 
suggested to Benjamin Franklin, the statesman, and 
signer of the Declaration, the arguments which he 
so successfully applied, with tongue and pen, against 
tyranny. 

But whatever influence it may have had upon his 
public life, in his patriotic and most efficient services, 
it was, as we have already intimated, the occasion 
of an error, or rather of several, in his private life. 



42 L I F E O F 

To evade the order that James Franklin should no 
longer print the Courant, the name of Benjamin was 
put upon the paper; and then, lest it should be 
charged that James still printed the paper by his 
apprentice, Benjamin's indentures were given up to 
him, with a discharge written upon the back, to 
show in case of necessity. New indentures were 
written for the remainder of Benjamin's time, which 
were to be kept private. 

This scheme, it will be perceived, rested upon 
Benjamin's integrity. The new indentures could 
only bind him if he chose to comply. But a new 
difference arising between the brothers, Benjamin 
asserted his freedom, correctly supposing that James 
would not dare to produce the new instrument. 
With the cancelled agreement in his hand, therefore, 
he was able to set his brother at defiance. His 
father sided with the senior ; pretty good evidence 
that James was now in the right, as the father had 
on former occasions supported Benjamin. When 
James found that Benjamin was resolved upon 
leaving him, he went to the otiicr printers in Boston, 
and prevented his getting employment with any one 
of them ; and our hero then thou^rht of ijoinfr to 
New York, as the nearest place where there was a 
printer. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 43 

One error, as Franklin honestly concedes it was, 
havinor been committed in his unfairness to his 
brother, others necessarily followed. He deter- 
mined to leave Boston secretly; and the young man 
Collins managed the matter for him, inventing false- 
hoods to cover his retreat — falsehoods which pre- 
pare the reader for the subsequent misfortunes 
which befell Collins, and for the inconveniences and 
mistakes into which young Franklin was led, by the 
friendship of such an adviser. 

Franklin arrived in New York in October, 1723, 
without money or letters, and at the inexperienced 
age of 17. He failed in finding employment there; 
but was told by Mr. William Bradford, a printer, 
who had moved to New York from Philadelphia, 
that he could probably find employment in the latter 
place, as the son of Mr. Bradford, who was a printer 
in Philadelphia, had just lost his principal hand by 
death. Accordingly, our young adventurer pushed 
for Philadelphia, going by boat to Amboy, and 
leaving his chest to come round by sea. He had 
a rough passage in the boat, being overtaken by a 
squall, driven out of his course, and forced to anchor 
near Long Island, where nobody could land on 
account of the surf The boat leaked, and he 
passed a wet, uncomfortable night, without restj 



44 LIFE OF 

and the next day made a shift to reach Amboy, 
after being thirty hours on the water, without food, 
or fresh water, or any other drink than a bottle of 
filthy rum. 

The next day, somewhat refreshed by sleep, he 
started on foot for Burlington, distant about fifty 
miles, where he expected to find boats for Philadel- 
phia. He was three days on the road, one day 
drenched with rain, and every day heartily tired. 
He was questioned, and suspected too, from the 
miserable figure he made, to be a runaway, and 
be^an to wish he had never left home. When he 
reached Burlington he had the mortification to fina 
that the regular boats were gone, and that there 
would be no more until Tuesday, the day on which 
he arrived at Burlington being Saturday. But 
toward evening a chance boat which happened to be 
passing took him on board. There was no wind, 
and they rowed until midnight, when, being uncer- 
tain where they were, and not sure that they had 
not passed Philadelphia, they pulled into a creek, 
landed and made a fire, and remained there until 
daylight. Then they perceived that they were a 
little above Philadelphia, and taking to their oars, 
arrived at Market Street w harf about eight o'clock 
on Sunday morning. This tedious journey from 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 45 

New York to Philadelphia is a strong contrast to 
the present mode of travelling, when people arc 
dissatisfied if they are as many hours on the road 
as Frankhn was days. But his toilsome journey, 
and his not very prepossessing entrance into Phila- 
delphia, are in yet stronger contrast with his after- 
life and standing there. We will let him describe 
his first appearance in Philadelphia in his own 
words : 

" I have been the more particular in this descrip- 
tion of my journey, and shall be so of my first entry 
into that city, that you may in your mind compare 
such unlikely beginnings with the figure I have since 
made there. I was in my working-dress, my best 
clothes coming round by sea. I was dirty from my 
being so long in the boat. My pockets were stuffed 
out with shirts and stockings, and I knew no one, 
nor where to look for lodgintr. Fatigued with 
walking, rowing, and the want of sleep, I was very 
hungry ; and my whole stock of cash consisted in a 
single dollar, and about a shilling in copper coin, 
which I gave to the boatmen for my passage. At 
first they refused it, on account of my having rowed, 
but I insisted on their taking it. Man is sometimes 
more generous when he has little money than when 



46 L I F E O F 

he has plenty; perhaps to prevent his being thought 
to have but httle. 

" I walked towards the top of the street, gazing 
about till near Market Street, where I met a boy 
with bread. I had often made a meal of dry bread, 
and inquiring where he had bought it, I went im- 
mediately to the baker's he directed me to. I asked 
for biscuits, meaning such as we had at Boston ; 
that sort, it seems, was not made in Philadelphia. 
I then asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told 
they had none. Not knowing the different prices, 
nor the names of the different sorts of bread, I told 
him to give me three-penny worth of any sort. He 
gave me accordingly three great puffy rolls. I was 
surprised at the quantity, but took it, and having no 
room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under 
each arm, and eating the other. Thus I went up 
Market Street as far as Fourth Street, passing by 
the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father j 
when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought 
I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridicu- 
lous appearance. Then I turned and went down 
Chestnut Street and part of Walnut Street, eating 
my roll all the way, and, coming round, found my- 
self again at Market Street wharf, near the boat I 
came in, to which I went for a drau'rht of the river 




franklin's arrival in PHILADELPHIA. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 47 

water ; and, being filled with one of my rolls, gave 
the other two to a woman and her child that came 
down the river in the boat with us, and were waiting 
to go farther. 

"Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street, 
which by this time had many clean-dressed people 
in it, who were all walking the same way. I joined 
tbera, and thereby was led into the great meeting- 
house of the Quakers near the market. I sat down 
among them, and, after looking round a while and 
liearing nothing said, being very drowsy through 
labour and want of rest the preceding night, I fell 
fast asleep, and continued so till the meeting broke 
up, when some one was kind enough to rouse me. 
This, therefore, was the first house I was in, or 
slept in, in Philadelphia." 

On the next day, our young adventurer having 
made his toilet with as much neatness as the case 
would admit, called on Mr. Bradford, the printer. 
He found there the father, from New York, who 
had arrived at Philadelphia before him, by travelling 
on horseback. Mr. Bradford did not want a hand, 
having already supplied the loss of the deceased 
printer, but received Franklin very kindly, offering 
him a lodging and chance work, until something 
better should ofl^er. Meanwhile he advised him to 



48 L 1 F E O F 

apply to Keimer, another printer, who had lately 
commenced business. The senior Bradford accom- 
panied Franklin immediately to Keimer's, making 
a show of his friendship, in order to discover Kei- 
mer's expectations as a rival to his son. The 
" crafty old sophister," as Franklin terms him, suc- 
ceeded in his covert purpose ; and Franklin also 
succeeded, the result of the interview being his 
engagement with Keimer. His new employer would 
not, however, permit him to lodge at Bradford's, 
but procured him a lodging at Mr. Read's, whose 
daughter has already been mentioned, as noting 
Franklin's singular appearance on the day of his 
landing. His clothing having by this time arrived, 
he was able to make a more respectable appearance 
than when first seen by the lady who was after- 
wards his wife. 

Youna; Franklin was fruixal and industrious in his 
habits, and selected his acquaintances from such 
as, like himself, were fond of reading, and desirous 
of improvement. Fie still, and for this he was very 
blameworthy, concealed his residence from his pa- 
rents. His brother-in-law, Robert Holmes, now 
happened to hear of him, and wrote him a letter, 
telling him of the great grief which his parents and 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 49 

Other friends felt at his sudden disappearance, and 
earnestly entreating him to return to them. 

His brother-in-law was master of a sloop that 
traded between Boston and Delaware, and was at 
Newcastle when he wrote to Benjamin and received 
his answer. In that answer Frankhn said all that 
he could to excuse himself; and Mr. Holmes hap- 
pening to be in company with Sir William Keith, 
Governor of Pennsylvania, when he received the 
letter, showed it to that gentleman. Sir William 
was surprised when he heard the age of Franklin, 
and said that a lad of so promising parts deserved 
to be encouraged. 

Before Franklin had heard anything of what had 
occurred, Sir William called upon him at the office 
of Keimer, invited him to dine with him, and offered 
to obtain for him the public printing, both of Penn- 
sylvania and Delaware, if he would set up in busi- 
ness with the consent and assistance of his father. 
The intention was kept a secret, and in May, 1724, 
Franklin returned to Boston, with a highly compli- 
mentary letter from Gov. Keith to his father. His 
passage occupied about a fortnight, a journey from 
Philadelphia to Boston being much more of an 
undertaking then than it now is. 

He had been absent seven months. His unex- 

D 



50 L I F E O F 

pected appearance — for his brother, Mr. Holmes, 
had not yet returned, nor had he written — very 
much surprised his friends. All were very glad to 
see him, and made him welcome, except his brother. 
The coolness of the latter w^as perhaps natural, and 
it was increased by the behaviour of Benjamin. 
Philosopher though our hero was afterward, he be- 
haved in this instance very much like a boy. Elated 
with his success in Philadelphia, he jingled his hard 
money before his brother's workmen and appren- 
tices, took occasion to show his watch, talked 
largely of the fine country he lived in, and his in- 
tention to return ; and wound up his visit to the 
printing-house, by the ridiculous parade of giving 
the hands a dollar to drink his health ! His brother 
thought, and with reason, that Benjamin insulted 
him in this visit. These particulars we draw from 
Franklin's own account, who left them as a warning 
to lads not to suffer their good fortune to turn their 
heads, or induce them to conduct in a manner to 
belittle and render themselves contemptible. 

Franklin's father seems, in everything we hear 
of him, to have been gifted with sound sense. He 
ihouaht Sir William Keith a man of small discre- 
tion, to think of setting up a youth in business who 
wanted three years of reaching man's estate ; and 
although Mr. Holmes said what he could in favour 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 51 

of the project, the father dedined. He wrote a 
civil letter to Sir William, thanking him for his 
proffered patronage of his son, but declined to assist 
him yet, as being too young to be trusted with an 
undertaking so important, and requiring so consi- 
derable an expenditure. The conclusion of this 
visit to Boston is thus related by Franklin : 

" My father, though he did not approve Sir Wil- 
liam's proposition, was yet pleased that I had been 
able to obtain so advantaijeous a character from a 
person of such note where I had resided ; and that 
I had been so industrious and careful, as to equip 
myself so handsomely in so short a time ; therefore, 
seeing no prospect of an accommodation between 
my brother and me, he gave his consent to my 
returning again to Philadelphia, advised me to 
behave respectfully to the people there, endeavour 
to obtain the general esteem, and avoid lampooning 
and libelling, to which he thought I had too much 
inclination ; telling me, that by steady industry and 
prudent parsimony, I might save enough by the 
time I was one-and-twenty to set me up ; and that 
if I came near the matter he would help me out 
with the rest. This was all I could obtain, except 
some small gifts as tokens of his and my mother's 
love, when I embarked again for New York ; now 
with their approbation and their blessing." 



52 L I F E O F 



CHAPTER IV. 

Collins goes to Philadelphia with Franklin — ^The bad Habits of Collins 
—He becomes an Expense to Franklin — And borrows Money which 
the latter had no right to lend — The End of Collins — Anecdote of 
the young Critics — Gov. Keith sends Franklin to England — Ralph 
accompanies him^ — Franklin exchanges promises with Miss Read — 
Disappointment about the Letters — Mr. Denham tells Franklin Gov. 
Keith's Character — Franklin works at his Trade in London — His 
Temperate Habits. 

J^OW we find Franklin fairly launching 
upon life, under much better auspices 
than when he first left his friends. 
But some difficulties and disadvan- 
tages still clung to him, growing out of the 
manner in which he first went aAvay from 
Boston. Then, it will be remembered, he 
received the improper assistance of a young 
man. Perhaps, indeed, Franklin himself 
might have directed Collins what story he should 
tell to cover his flight, and Benjamin might have 
been more to blame in that matter than his friend. 
But, in whatever way it was done, the consequences 
followed him. He became a party to a wrong 
transaction, of which he received the supposed 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 53 

benefits, and he was thus laid under an obhgation 
to a bad boy, and was tempted and induced to do 
a very wrong thing in return, at his persuasion. 

Collins resolved to go to Philadelphia, upon hear- 
ing Franklin's account of his new residence. He 
started before Franklin, going by land to Rhode 
Island, and leaving his books and other baggage in 
Boston, to come with Franklin by sea. 

On his way to New York, the vessel putting in 
at Rhode Island, Franklin called upon his brother 
John, who was there settled in business. A friend 
of his brother's, named Vernon, gave him a demand 
to collect, due from a man in Pennsylvania, about 
thirty-five pounds ; a trust which afterwards proved 
a source of great uneasiness to Franklin. On his 
arrival at New York, Benjamin's studious habits 
procured him the notice of another governor, a cir- 
cumstance which was probably very pleasing to a 
poor lad, as Franklin then was. Gov. Burnet hear- 
ing that one of the passengers had a great many 
books with him, desired to see him ; and Franklin 
accordingly waited upon the Governor, who enter 
tained him with great civihty. Franklin would 
have taken his friend Collins with him on this visit, 
as he had arrived at New York before him, but 
there was a very serious objection in the way. 



54 L I F E O F 

Collins was not sober. Franklin found upon his 
reaching New York, that his friend had been intoxi- 
cated every day since his arrival. He had behaved, 
as drunken people usually do, in a most outrageous 
and unbecoming manner, and had gambled and lost 
all his money. Franklin w^is obliged to pay for his 
lodgings, and defray his expenses to Philadelphia ; 
and, not only that, but to pay his board some time 
after his arrival in that city. Collins endeavoured 
to obtain employment in some counting-house, but 
people would not employ a dram-drinking clerk. 
Nor was Franklin's expenditure of his own money 
all. Collins knew Franklin had Vernon's money : 
he asked to borrow it. The young man who em- 
ploys another to lie for him, cannot so well resist 
the liar's importunity to do a wrong by way of 
returning the obligation ; and Collins borrowed so 
much of Vernon's money, that Franklin, instead of 
being able, like''a trusty agent, to remit at once the 
money belonging to another, which he had collected, 
was for many years in trepidation, lest Vernon 
should call for his money, and he not be able to 
restore it. 

The history of Collins, with which we shall now 
soon have done, offers a lesson as impressive, upon 
the dangers of dram-drinking, as Franklin's life 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 55 

affords upon the good results of temperance and 
frugality. In Boston the two boys had been inti- 
mate from childhood. Both were fond of reading ; 
but Collins had the more leisure, and in mathe- 
matical learning he far outstripped Franklin. While 
he remained a sober and industrious lad, he was 
much respected for his acquirements, and promised 
to make a good figure in life. But drinking ruined 
all. He continued to drink while in Philadelphia, 
and was unable to find employment there. He had 
frequent differences and quarrels with his friend 
Franklin ; for those who permit their reason to be 
dethroned by a passion for drink, quarrel with their 
best friends, and treat those worst to whom they are 
under the deepest obligations. At length the two 
friends could hardly be called friends any longer, 
scarcely exchanging a civil word together. Collins 
went to Barbadoes, as preceptor for the sons of a 
gentleman there, promising to remit to Franklin 
what he owed him, out of the first money he should 
receive ; but Franklin never heard of him afterward, 
and of course never received his money. 

We have mentioned that Frankhn selected boys 
fond of reading, like himself, for his acquaintances 
in Philadelphia; and we shall here introduce a little 
anecdote, to show young people how much they 



56 L I F E O F 

may be deceived by their friendships or their dis- 
likes, in judging of the abihties of their companions. 
Franklin's chief acquaintances were named Charles 
Osborne, James Ralph, and Joseph Watson. Os- 
borne and Ralph were fond of poetry, and had 
begun to try their hands in little pieces. Osborne 
was sensible, candid, and frank, affectionate to his 
friends, but in hterary matters too fond of criticism. 

" Ralph was inclined to give himself up entirely 
to poetry, not doubting that he might make great 
proficiency in it, and even make his fortune by it. 
He pretended that the greatest poets must, when 
they first began to write, have committed as many 
faults as he did. Osborne endeavoured to dissuade 
him, assured him he had no genius for poetry, and 
advised him to think of nothing beyond the business 
he was bred to ; that, in the mercantile way, though 
he had no stock, he might by his diligence and 
punctuality recommend himself to employment as 
a factor, and in time acquire wherewith to trade on 
his own account. I approved for my part the 
amusing one's self with poetry now and then, so 
far as to improve one's language, but no farther. 

" On this it was proposed, that we should each of 
us at our next meeting produce a piece of our own 
composing, in order to improve by our mutual ob- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 57 

servations, criticisms, and corrections. As language 
and expression were what we had in view, we ex- 
cluded all considerations of invention, by agreeing 
that the task should be a version of the eighteenth 
Psalm, which describes the descent of a Deity. 
When the time of our meeting drew nigh, Ralph 
called on me first, and let me know his piece was 
ready. I told him I had been busy, and having 
little inclination, had done nothing. He then 
showed me his piece for my opinion, and I much 
approved it, as it appeared to me to have great 
merit. ' Now,' said he, ' Osborne never will allow 
the least merit in anything of mine, but makes a 
thousand criticisms out of mere envy. He is not 
so jealous of you; I wish, therefore, you would 
take this piece and produce it as yours ; I will pre- 
tend not to have had time, and so produce nothing. 
We shall then hear what he will say to it.' It was 
agreed, and I immediately transcribed it, that it 
might appear in my own hand. 

" We met ; Watson's performance was read ; 
there were some beauties in it, but many defects. 
Osborne's was read; it was much better; Ralph 
did it justice ; remarked some faults, but applauded 
the beauties. He himself had nothing to produce. 
I was backward, seemed desirous of being excused, 



58 LIFE OF 

had not had sufficient time to correct, &c. ; but no 
excuse could be admitted, produce I must. It was 
read and repeated ; Watson and Osborne gave up 
the contest, and joined in applauding it. Ralph 
only made some criticisms, and proposed some 
amendments; but I defended my text. Osborne 
was severe against Ralph, and told me he was no 
better able to criticise than compose verses. As 
these two were returning home, Osborne expressed 
himself still more strongly in favour of what he 
thought my production ; having before refrained, as 
he said, lest I should think he meant to flatter me. 
' But who would have imagined,' said he, ' that 
Franklin was capable of such a performance; such 
painting, such force, such fire ! He has even im- 
proved on the original. In common conversation 
he seems to have no choice of words ; he hesitates 
and blunders — yet how wonderfully well he writes !' 
When we next met Ralph confessed the trick we 
had played, and Osborne was laughed at." 

To return to the thread of the narrative, the 
violation of trust which Franklin committed was, 
he himself remarks, pretty good evidence that he 
was not yet old enough to be competent to man- 
age business. His father's suspicions relative to 
Gov. Keith were equally well founded ; and if 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 59 

Benjamin had consulted others who knew Keith 
better, or if he had used a tithe of his own discre- 
tion, he might have escaped much difficulty and 
serious embarrassment. It is a good rule for young 
men always to doubt the wisdom, or sincerity, or 
both, of those who would persuade them to disre- 
gard the instructions and admonitions of their 
parents. By slighting this, Benjamin was the victim 
of the deception of Gov. Keith — for we can call it 
no less ; and with what account of the transaction 
is preserved to us, it is hard to see what could have 
been the man's purpose in deceiving a poor boy. — 
Gov. Keith told him that his father was too pru- 
dent ; " but," said he, " since he will not set you up, 
I will do it myself." At his direction, Franklin 
prepared an inventory of such things as were neces- 
sary for a printing-office, in value about one hun- 
dred pounds. Then the Governor inquired if he 
could not purchase them better on the spot ; and as 
all such things were at that time imported from 
England, he directed Franklin to get himself ready 
to go out in the ship, which at that time passed 
once a year between London and Philadelphia, and 
was the only vessel which regularly made the voyage. 
During the several months which intervened between 
that time and the sailing of the vessel, FrankUn 



60 LIFE OF 

kept steadily at work, " fretting extremely" all the 
time, about the money which belonged to Mr. Ver- 
non, which he had loaned to Collins, and which the 
latter, as we have already told the reader, not only 
never paid, but never mentioned to his friend again. 

Gov. Keith continued his attentions to young 
Frankhn, asking him often to his house, and always 
talking about setting him up in Philadelphia, as a 
settled thing. The Governor promised him letters 
of introduction to several persons in London, and 
letters of credit, with which he should purchase 
types, paper, &c. ; and from time to time named 
days on which he was to call and receive these 
documents, but when he called they were never 
ready. Thus things were delayed till the vessel 
was ready to sail, and when Franklin called for his 
letters, he was told that the Governor was exceed- 
ingly busy, but that he would be at Newcastle before 
the vessel arrived there on her way down the Dela- 
ware, and would hand him the letters at that place. 

Franklin took leave of his friends, including Miss 
Read, to whom he was then paying attention with 
a view to future marriage, and with whom he " ex- 
changed promises," and went on board. Ralph 
accompanied him, having given out that he was 
going to London to establish a correspondence, and 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 61 

obtain goods to sell on commission. At Newcastle 
the Governor was again too busy to see Franklin, 
but sent him a message of " great regret" that he 
■was so much enora£ied that he could not meet him. 
He promised to send the letters on board, and 
heartily wished him a good voyage and a speedy 
return. 

Among the passengers was Mr. Denham, a mer- 
chant, and a member of the Society of Friends, 
who contracted a friendship for Franklin, which 
continued during his life, and which was of almost 
immediate assistance and benefit to our young ad- 
venturer, and served to prevent the ill consequences 
of his exposure to temptations and bad advice. 
When the vessel neared her destination, the captain 
permitted Franklin to take from the ship's bag such 
letters as were addressed to his care. He called 
upon a stationer in London, to whom one of the 
letters was addressed, and delivered it as a letter 
from Gov. Keith. The stationer said he did not 
know such a person ; but opening the letter, con- 
tinued : " Oh ! this is from Riddlesden ! I have 
lately found out that he is a complete rascal, and I 
will have nothing to do with him, nor receive any 
letters from him !" And handing the letter back to 
Franklin, he turned away to serve a customer. 



62 L I F E O F 

In this dilemma Franklin went to his good friend 
Denham for advice. Neither of them required to 
be told that Riddlesden, who was an attorney in 
Philadelphia, was a knave ; and Franklin was very 
much surprised to find that the letters which he had 
selected from the bag were not written by Gov. 
Keith. He told all the circumstances to Mr. Den- 
ham, who informed him that there was not the 
slightest probability that the Governor had written 
any letters for him, and that no one who knew Gov. 
Keith placed the least- dependence on him. He 
laughed at the idea of a man's writing letters of 
credit, who had no credit to give. And thus was 
our hero brought into difficulty by over-caution in 
concealing his purposes, and over-confidence in him- 
self. Almost any man in Philadelphia could have 
given Franklin the same knowledge of Gov. Keith, 
which he obtained not till he had crossed the At- 
lantic upon his faithless promises. Franklin, in his 
account of the matter, is very lenient to Gov. Keith., 
and attributes his treacherous promises to a desire 
to please every body. Having little to give, he gave 
expectations. -(- 

Mr. Denham recommended Franklin, in his dif- 
ficulty, to endeavour to improve himself in his 
business by prosecuting his trade in London. In 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 63 

pursuance of this advice he obtained employment 
at Palmer's, and afterward at Watts', two of the 
principal printing-houses, or offices, then in London. 
We copy his own account of his manner of life as 
printer there. The office, it will be noted, is called 
a chapel. This was the custom then, and it may be 
in England still, and is said to have arisen from the 
circumstance, that the first printing was done in 
England in an old chapel. The hien vemi, welcome, 
or footing, as it is more usually called, formerly 
paid in -drink upon the entrance of a new hand, has 
long been discontinued, as it should be. It was 
truly one of those customs w hich are more honoured 
" in the breach than in the observance." The term 
" St. Monday,'''' which our young readers may not 
all comprehend, or " making a St. Monday," signi- 
fied giving up the first part of the w^eek to idleness 
and dissipation — a habit into which Franklin could 
never fall ; and his example in this respect, as well 
as in many others, has accomplished a vast deal of 
good in the world. 

"At my first admission into the printing-house, 
I took to working at press, imagining I felt a want 
of the bodily exercise I had been used to in Ame- 
rica, where press-work is mixed with the composing. 
I drank only water; the other workmen, near fifty 



64 L I F K O F 

in number, were great drinkers of beer. On occa 
sion I carried up and down stairs a large form of 
types in each hand, when others carried but one in 
both hands. They wondered to see, from this and 
several instances, that the Water- American, as they 
called me, was stronger than themselves, who drank 
strong beer ! We had an alehouse boy, who at- 
tended always in the house to supply the workmen. 
My companion at the press drank every day a pint 
before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread 
and cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner; a 
pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six 
o'clock, and another when he had done his day's 
work. I thought it a detestable custom ; but it was 
necessary, he supposed, to drink strong beer, that 
he mii^ht be stronor to labour. I undeavoured to 
convince him, that the bodily strength afforded by 
beer could only be in proportion to the grain or 
flour of the barley dissolved in the water of which 
it was made ; that there was more flour in a penny- 
worth of bread ; and therefore, if he could eat that 
with a pint of water, it would give him more strength 
than a quart of heer. He drank on, however, and 
had four or five shillings to pay out of his wages 
every Saturday night for that vile liquor; an ex- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 65 

pense I was free from. And thus these poor fellows 
keep themselves always under. 

" Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me 
in the composing-room, I left the pressmen ; a new 
biet7 venu for drink, being five shilHngs, was de- 
manded of me by the compositors. I thought it an 
imposition, as I had paid one to the pressmen ; the 
master thought so too, and forbade my paying it. 
I stood out two or three weeks, was accordingly 
considered as an excommunicate, and had so many 
little pieces of private malice practised on me, by 
mixing my sorts, transposing and breaking my 
matter, &c. &c., if ever I stepped out of the room ; 
and all ascribed to the chapel ghost, which they said 
ever haunted those not regularly admitted ; that, 
notwithstanding the master's protection, I found 
myself obliged to comply and pay the money ; con- 
vinced of the folly of being on ill terms with those 
one is to live with continually. 

" I was now on a fair footing with them, and soon 
acquired considerable influence. I proposed some 
reasonable alterations in their chapel laws, and car- 
ried them against all opposition. From my example, 
a great many of them left their muddling breakfast 
of beer, bread, and cheese, finding they could with 

E 



66 L I F E O F 

me be supplied from a neighbouring house, with a 
large porringer of hot water-gruel, sprinkled with 
pepper, crumbled with bread, and a bit of butter in 
it, for the price of a pint of beer, viz. three half- 
pence. This was a more comfortable as well as a 
cheaper breakfast, and kept their heads clearer. 
Those who continued sotting with their beer all day, 
were often, by not paying, out of credit at the ale- 
house, and used to make interest with me to get 
beer; their light, as they phrased it, being out. I 
watched the pay-table on Saturday night, and col- 
lected what I stood engaged for them, having to 
pay sometimes near thirty shillings a week on their 
accounts. This, and my being esteemed a pretty 
good riggite, that is, a jocular verbal satirist, sup- 
ported my consequence in the society. My constant 
attendance (I never making a St. Monday) recom- 
mended me to the master; and my uncommon 
quickness at composing occasioned my being put 
upon work of despatch, which was generally better 
paid. So I went on now very agreeably." 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



67 



CHAPTER V. 



Ralph's Character developed — Remarks — Franklin's Good Conducl 
secures him Friends — Engages with Mr. Denhain as Clerk — Returns 
to America — Anecdote of Mr. Denham — His Death — Franklin re- 
sumes his Trade — Keimpr's Craftiness — Franklin's Industry and 
Usefulness — Keimer grows captious and drives him away — ^Franklin 
forms a Copartnership with Meredith — Re-engages for a time with 
Keimer — Goes to Burlington to print Money for New Jersey^ — The 
Story of the Roast Pig — Franklin and Meredith commence business 
—The First Fruits— The Croaker. 

S Franklin's success in Philadelphia 
was clogged at first by the dead weight 
of Collins, so in London his friend 
Ralph proved a sad stumbling-block 
and hindrance. After they had es- 
tablished themselves together in a lodging- 
house, Ralph communicated to his friend his 
views and intentions ; and that he purposed 
to remain in London, and desert his wife and 
child, leaving them to be taken care of by her friends 
in x\merica. This circumstance should have been 
enough, of itself, to have led Franklin to select 
another and more worthy associate. Ralph had 
no money, and while he was in idleness continued 




68 L I F E O F 

to borrow of Franklin from time to time, till he had 
taken seven-and-twenty pounds, equal to about a 
hundred and thirty dollars of our present currency, 
and to much more in those days, when money, ob- 
tained by artizans with more difficulty, was more 
valuable. 

We need scarcely tell the sagacious reader that 
Ralph never paid what he had borrowed. A man 
who would desert his wife, and deceive her and his 
friends with false pretexts, would never want an 
excuse to evade the payment of an honest debt. 
During nearly the whole eighteen months that 
Franklin was in London, Ralph kept him poor, and 
unable to pay the expenses of his passage back to 
Philadelphia. Ralph entirely forgot his wife and 
child, and Franklin also forgot Miss Read, to whom 
his word was plighted. He wrote but one letter 
to her while in London, and that to tell her that he 
should not soon return. But a difficulty arose at 
last between the two friends, which resulted in 
Ralph's telling Franklin that he considered all the 
obligations under which he stood to him annulled. 
As it respected the past this was of less conse- 
quence, as Ralph was utterly unable to pay what 
he owed. So far as the future was concerned, the 
rupture of the friendship relieved Franklin from a 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 69 

heavy burthen. The disadvantages which Franklin 
incurred by the friendship of the two persons with 
whom he was most intimate in his youth, show the 
vahie of advice to the young. If even Frankhn 
could not escape danger, with his early sagacity ; 
and if all his strength of character was required to 
save him from shipwreck, it is a most impressive 
warning to others. Few in his situation would 
escape at all, fewer still could rise like him to virtue 
and distinction, in spite of circumstances so adverse 
to both. 

As we have before remarked, Franklin possessed 
next to none of the advantages and facihties, which 
render the acquisition of knowledge so easy in our 
day. But his active mind perceived how the best 
might be made of the circumstances in which he 
was placed ; and his industry and perseverance ac- 
complished wonders. He saw the need and utility 
of many changes and improvements, and, as we 
shall find by and by, he laid the foundation for many 
public libraries and other institutions, in the benefit 
of which all classes of our fellow-citizens partici- 
pate. Circulating libraries were not in use a hun- 
dred years ago; but Franklin saw the utility of 
such a mode of obtaining books, and he made an 
arrangement with a bookseller, who had an immense 



70 L I F E O F 

collection of second-hand books, by which he ob- 
tained the use of such as he Avanted, upon terms 
similar to those now made by circulating libraries. 

Franklin's acquirements and character, though 
his situation in life was humble, particularly in 
England, where rank makes such immense differ- 
ences between men, procured him the notice and 
friendship of many among the learned and the 
great. Many years afterward, when he visited that 
country, as the delegate and representative of his 
fellow-citizens in America, these persons remem- 
bered in the statesman, the lad whom they had en- 
couraged and befriended. By his good character 
as a youth he provided and established an introduc- 
tion as a man; being received in England rather 
as an old acquaintance than as a stranger. Thus 
we see how important to the man is a good memory 
of the conduct of the boy. 

At length Franklin prepared to return to America. 
His good friend, Mr. Denham, who had watched 
his course in London, having dissuaded him from a 
wild plan which he had formed of wandering all 
over Europe, proposed to him to return as his clerk, 
in a large store which he was about to open in 
Philadelphia. To this Franklin acceded, and took 
leave of printing, as he then fancied, for ever. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 71 

On his arrival in Philadelphia, he found that 
several changes had taken place. Keith was no 
longer Governor, having been superseded. Franklin 
met him in the street, and the ex-Governor passed 
him without speaking, seeming a little ashamed. 
Miss Read, at the persuasion of her friends, had 
married in his absence, his silence having taken 
away the strongest reason she could have urged for 
dechning the match which they made for her. 
Keimer seemed to have prospered, having moved 
into a better house, and obtained an abundance of 
new type, with which he appeared to be doing a 
very good business. 

Mr. Denham opened his store, and everything 
now seemed to promise well for our hero. They 
lodged and boarded together; Mr. Denham treated 
Franklin as if he had been a son, and the young 
man respected and loved his employer. An anec- 
dote which Frankhn relates of him, serves to show 
his character in the best light, as a man of sterling 
probity and honour. He was once in business in 
England, where he was unfortunate, failed in debt 
to a great number of people, compounded, or settled 
with them, obtaining a legal release from all his in- 
debtedness, and came to America. Here he was 
very successful as a merchant, and acquired a large 



T2 L I F E O F 

fortune. He returned to England, it will be recol- 
lected, in the same ship with Franklin. He invited 
his old creditors to an entertainment, at which he 
took occasion to express his gratitude to them for 
the very easy terms upon which they had released 
iiim from his obligations. His guests, of course, 
thought the entertainment was all they were to 
receive, but when their plates were changed, each 
found on the table a cheque on a banker for the 
remainder, morally if not legally due him, with 
interest. 

None could know better than Franklin how to 
appreciate and respect such a character as Mr. Den- 
ham's, and a long course of happiness and pros- 
peritywas before him. Mr. Denham had promised, 
that as soon as his clerk should be sufficiently ac- 
quainted with mercantile business, he would send 
him with a cariro of bread and flour to the West 
Indies, and procure him profitable commissions from 
others ; and that if he managed these trusts well, he 
would establish him handsomely. After his expe- 
rience with Collins, Keith, and Ralph, Franklin had 
learned that the promises of a man who was their 
good opposite in all particulars, were worthy of 
trust, and safely to be relied upon. Of course, when 
we speak of human promises as safe, we must ex- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 73 

cept them from the influence of such contingencies 
as are above man's control. Such an event occurred 
in the death of his kind friend. Frankhn was taken 
sick at the same time, and came also very near 
dying. When he recovered he found himself once 
more unfixed in the world, without employment, for 
the store was taken in charge by the executors. 
Mr. Denham left him a small legacy as a token of 
his kindness ; the first direct assistance, above his 
absolute earnings, which Franklin had ever received. 

He was now (1727) in his twenty-second year. 
He wished to obtain employment as a clerk, but was 
not successful. His brother-in-law, Mr. Holmes, 
who was now in Philadelphia, advised him to return 
to his business, that of a printer. Frankliff had 
now profited by experience, and strove to avoid 
connection with the unworthy. His previous know- 
ledge of Keimer, and the bad character he had 
heard of him from his deserted wife, and her friends 
in London, disinclined Franklin from having any- 
thing more to do with him ; but as he made large 
oflfers, and no other opening presented, Franklin 
closed again with his former master. 

He soon discovered that Keimer's motive for en- 
gaging him at high wages was, to instruct a set of 
raw, cheap hands, collected together at low wages, 



74 LIFE OP 

and articled or bound to Keimer ; and that, as soon 
as these hands were instructed, Keimer would be 
ready to discharge his foreman. As he had agreed 
to take the management of Keimer's office, how- 
ever, he did not permit his knowledge of his em- 
ployer's character and intentions to prevent him 
from doing his own duty. He went cheerfully to 
work to put the office, which was in sad confusion, 
in order, and brought his hands to know their busi- 
ness and do it better. Nor did he confine himself, 
as many in his situation might have done, to doing 
barely what could be required of him, and that un- 
willingly. He gave the benefit of all his knowledge 
and experience to his employer, working as zealously 
as if'^ie had been engaged for himself, which is the 
true mode of all service. The printing-office fre- 
quently wanted what printers call sorts ; that is to 
say, some letters of the alphabet would be deficient. 
There was then no type-foundry in America, by 
which these deficiencies could be supplied; and 
Franklin, who had seen types cast in London, and 
who never permitted an opportunity to learn to pass 
unimproved, or forgot what he had acquired, con- 
trived a way to supply what was wanted. He also 
engraved, when there was need, made the ink, im- 
proved the apparatus in various ways, was ware- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 75 

houseman, and in short, became quite o. factotum^ or 
doer of all things. 

As Franklin had expected, when the raw hands 
were in some degree made useful, Keimer grew less 
civil. He put on the airs of a master, was captious 
and fault-finding, complained of the wages he paid 
as too high, and evidently sought an occasion of 
quarrel. Franklin knew that Keimer, through sloth- 
ful inattention to business, selling often without 
profit, and trusting without keeping accounts, was 
embarrassed. He attributed his petulance partly to 
this cause, and bore the inconveniences of his situ- 
ation with as much patience as he could. Things, 
meanwhile, went on from bad to worse, until one 
day Keimer publicly insulted him before the neigh- 
bours, calling to him in the office from the street ; 
and then, coming into the house, he continued the 
quarrel before the hands, which was a very irritating 
circumstance. High words passed upon both sides. 
The conversation closed, by Keimer's giving the 
quarter's notice which their agreement required, and 
expressing regret that so long a time was necessary. 
Franklin waived the privilege he had of remaining 
three months, and left the office instantly, purposing 
to return to Boston. ' 

And now we come to one of the pleasant proofs 



76 L I F E O F 

of the benefits of temperance, and the advantages 
of exerting a good example and a good influence. 
Among the hands in Keimer's office was a young 
man named Meredith, a native of Pennsylvania, 
who had been sadly addicted to dram-drinking, but 
had been persuaded by Franklin to discontinue a 
habit so vile and ruinous. This young man's time 
with Keimer would soon expire, and he urged 
Franklin to wait in Philadelphia, and go into busi- 
ness ; Meredith furnishing the capital as an offset 
to Franklin's skill and experience. Meredith's father 
endorsed the proposal, highly pleased at the thought 
of his son's connection with an estimable young 
man like Franklin, and hoping that by becoming a 
partner with such a person, his son would be cured 
of his bad habits entirely. Franklin endeavoured, 
while Meredith's engao;ement with Keimer con- 
tinned, to find employment in the other office, but 
without success. Perhaps some of our readers 
may begin to think that Franklin's faithful service 
with Keimer, was time and labour thrown away 
unrequited. But his good conduct there gave him 
a high character with Meredith's father, which was 
an ynmediate benefit ; and it aided in establishing 
the good character in Philadelphia which lasted him 
all his life. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 77 

Nor was this all. If Franklin had given his 
master niggardly service, exacting all that was due 
him, and performing as little in return as possible, 
Keimer, after he was gone, might have never 
thought more of him, except to be glad that he had 
got rid of a troublesome fellow. Instead of that, 
such was Franklin's ingenuity and usefulness, that 
he found he could not very well do without him. 
The Province of New Jersey wanted to procure the 
printing of some paper money. Keimer knew that 
Franklin was the only man in that part of the 
country who could supply the necessary types, cuts, 
&c. ; and fearful that Bradford, the other printer, 
would engage Franklin, and get the work, he sent 
him a very civil message, telling him that old friends 
should not part for a fe^' words, the effect of sudden 
passion, and asking him to return. Meredith added 
his persuasions ; Franklin complied, and Keimer 
obtained the work, which Franklin executed for him. 

Keimer and Franklin went to Burlington to print 
the bills. As a committee of some of the principal 
men in the Province had been appointed to watch 
the execution of the works which occupied about 
three months, Franklin had here an opportunity to 
make acquaintances, which proved very useful to 
him afterward. The inferiority of the master to 



78 . L I F E O F 

the man was apparent. Franklin contrived a 
copper-plate press for the work, the first that had 
been seen in the country, and several ornaments 
and checks for the bills. His mind had been im- 
proved by reading and observation, and his conver- 
sation was therefore prized. He was introduced at 
the houses of the committee and tlieir friends, 
while the master was neglected. Keimer was an 
odd, and not very agreeable man, ignorant of the 
common courtesies of life, fond of rudely opposing 
received opinions, and slovenly to extreme dirtiness. 

Keimer wore his beard at full length, because 
that, in the Mosaic law, it is said, " Thou shalt not 
mar the corners of thy beard." He likewise kept 
the seventh day Sabbath, and both these points were 
essential with him. He wished very much to bring 
Franklin over to his opinions, and an amusing 
anecdote is related of their early acquaintance. 
Franklin waggishly consented to agree to keep his 
rule about the beard and the Sabbath, if Keimer 
would consent to give up animal food. Frankhn 
thus describes the result: 

" He was usually a great eater, and I wished to 
give myself some diversion in half-starving him. 
He consented to try the practice if I would keep 
him company. I did so, and we held it for three 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 79 

months. Our provisions were purchased, cooked, 
and brought to us regularly by a woman in the 
neighbourhood, who had from me a list of forty 
dishes, which she prepared for us at different times, 
in which there entered neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. 
This whim suited me the better at this time from the 
cheapness of it, not costing us above eighteen pence 
sterling each per week. I have since kept several 
lents most strictly, leaving the common diet for that, 
and that for the common, abruptly, without the least 
inconvenience. So that I think there is little in the 
advice of making those changes by easy gradations. 
I went on pleasantly, but poor Keimer suffered 
grievously, grew tired of the project, longed for the 
flesh pots of Egypt, and ordered a roast pig. He 
invited me and two women friends to dine with him ; 
but, it being brought too soon upon the table, he 
could not resist the temptation, and ate the whole 
before we came." 

Soon after the Burlington job was completed, the 
new types and press arrived from London. Frank- 
lin and Meredith settled with Keimer and left him, 
and commenced business on their own account. 
Just as they had put things in order, and expended 
their last cash, a friend of Franklin's brought in a 
countryman, whom he had met in the street inquir- 



80 L I F E O F 

ing for a printer. The five shillings received for 
this job, coming so seasonably, and being the first 
fruits, gave Franklin more pleasure than any crown 
■which he afterward earned ; and the gratitude he 
felt to the friend who introduced his first customer, 
made him in after life the more ready to assist 
young beginners. To offset this and other pleasant 
circumstances at the commencement, Franklin re- 
lates the following anecdote, which is as good now, 
as it was then : 

"There are croakers in every country, always 
boding its ruin. Such a one there lived in Philadel- 
phia ; a person of note, an elderly man, with a wise 
look and a very grave manner of speaking; his 
name was Samuel Mickle. This gentleman, a 
stranger to me, stopped me one day at my door, and 
asked if I was the young man who had lately opened 
a new printing-house ? Being answered in the 
affirmative, he said he was sorry for me, because it 
was an expensive undertaking, and the expense 
would be lost ; for Philadelphia was a sinking place, 
the people already half bankrupts, or near being so; 
all the appearances of the contrary, such as new 
buildings and the rise of rents, being to his certain 
knowledge fallacious; for they were in fact amono- 
the things that would ruin us. Then he gave me 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 81 

such a detail of misfortunes now existing, or that 
were soon to exist, that he left me melancholy. 
Had I known him before I engaged in this business, 
probably I never should have done it. This person 
continued to live in this decaying place, and to de- 
claim in the same strain, refusing for many years to 
buy a house there, because all was going to destruc- 
tion ; and at last I had the pleasure of seeing him 
give five times as much for one as he might have 
bought it for when he first began croaking." 



82 



LIFE OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

FTankiin's Early Temptations — The Junto — Assistance of Franklin by 
its Members — Unpalatable pi — Franklin's Newspaper — His Ability 
and Independence — The Sawdust Pudding — Difficulties — Franklin 
buys out his Partner — His Safe Mode of Business and Living — Its 
Effects — Consequences of a Rival's opposite Mode — Franklin's 
Thoughts turn to Matrimony — Marries Miss Read — Anecdote of the 
China Bowl and Silver Spoon. 

^iC!£,X;^E have followed Franklin through 
his boyhood and minority, which 
the attentive reader cannot fail to 
'^ have observed, were seasons to him 
of pecuhar temptation and expo- 
sure. If he did not always do exactly right, 
his faults were not deliberate ones, nor were 
^M| they persisted in when he discovered them ; 
and he passed with safety through his juve- 
nile trials, not the least of which was the influence 
which he possessed over his companions. He says: 
"The kind hand of Providence preserved me 
through this dangerous time of youth, and the 
liazardous situations I was sometimes in among 
strangers, remote from the eye and advice of my 




m 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 83 

father, free from any wilful gross immorality or 
injustice. * * * I had therefore a tolerable 
character to begin the world with ; I valued it pro- 
perly, and determined to preserve it." 

Franklin's literary tastes, and desire for know- 
ledge and improvement, now came in as an assist- 
ance, in a way which he probably had not counted 
upon. Just before commencing business, he had 
formed among his acquaintances a club for mutual 
improvement. Its members included tradesmen, 
artificers, merchants, and professional men, the re- 
quisites to admission being mind and character. It 
met once a week, and lasted almost forty years. 
Franklin says of it, that it was the best school of 
philosophy, morality, and politics, that then existed 
in the Province. The topics for discussion were 
announced during the week preceding that in which 
the debate took place, and the members were thus 
induced to read, in order to prepare themselves to 
speak to the purpose. They acquired good and 
courteous habits of conversation, as the rules studied 
the exclusion of everything by which the members 
would offend each other. This characteristic of the 
Junto, as this club was called, tended to its long 
continuance; and the absence of such regulations, 
or a neglect of their enforcement, may be one 



84 L I F E O F 

• 

reason why modern " debating societies" are so 
short-lived. 

The members of the Junto, now that two of their 
number were in business as printers, all exerted 
themselves to recommend them to their friends, and 
procure them employment. But the obtaining of 
work is not enough, unless it is carefully and 
promptly done. Our two young printers took care 
no delay or inaccuracy should belie their friends' 
recommendations, but laboured early and late. On 
one occasion, Franklin relates that when he fancied 
his day's work was done, two pages were accident- 
ally thrown into pi, as the printers call type, when 
mixed and knocked into confusion. This was a 
most annoying and disheartening business, as type 
thus disarranged required a great deal of patient 
labour to put in the proper order; and when that is 
done, the whole work of " setting it up" and cor- 
recting still remains to do. But Franklin instantly 
set to work, and fully repaired the mischief before 
he went to bed. The new firm became a proverb 
for industry. Merchants noticed them at work late 
at night and early in the morning, and offers of 
credit for stationery were made to them without 
solicitation. These they cautiously declined for the 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 85 

present to accept ; and care not to abuse their credit 
was anotiier cause of their success. 

Franklin now conceived the intention of estab- 
lishing a second newspaper in Philadelphia, there 
being then (1729) only one, that printed by Brad- 
ford. Keimer got wind of it, and anticipated him 
by establishing one himself Franklin and Mere- 
dith delayed their enterprise, and in about three 
months Keimer got tired of the speculation, having 
obtained only about ninety subscribers, and sold out 
to Franklin and Meredith for a trifle. They made 
an immediate improvement ; printing the paper 
better, and on better type, and producing a hand- 
somer sheet than had been before seen in the 
Province. 

Besides its claims upon the public approval, for 
its handsome and correct printing, Franklin's paper, 
which was called the Pennsylvania Gazette, was 
ably conducted. Now the labour which Franklin 
had bestowed upon English compostion became 
valuable to him. Whatever subject he treated was 
clearly and ably handled ; and the knowledge which 
he had acquired by reading and observation, enabled 
him to take hold of prominent political, scientific, 
and other questions, and give opinions and com- 
ments upon them, which had both weight and intc- 



86 L I F E O F 

rest. The leading men in the Province were among 
his subscribers; and the acquaintances he had made, 
and the friends he had secured, became his readers 
themselves, and recommended him to others. His 
list of subscribers rapidly increased ; and instead 
of being made idle or negligent by success, he re- 
doubled his diligence. The ingenuity with which 
he could contrive and construct articles necessary 
in his business — an ingenuity which he had increased 
in the service of others — was now of the highest 
use to himself. 

In managing his paper, he aimed to be just and 
fearless. We find in the anecdotes related of this 
part of his life, one which is both amusing and 
characteristic : Soon after the establishment of his 
newspaper, he found occasion to remark with some 
degree of freedom on the public conduct of one or 
two persons of high standing in Philadelphia. This 
course was disapproved by some of his patrons, 
who sought an opportunity to convey to him their 
views of the subject, and what they represented to 
be the opinion of his friends. He listened patiently, 
and replied by requesting that they would favour 
him with their company at supper, and bring witli 
them the other gentlemen who had expressed dis- 
satisfaction. The time arrived, and the guests as- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 87 

sembled. He received them cordially, and listened 
again to their friendly reproofs of his editorial con- 
duct. At length supper was announced ; but when^ 
the guests had seated themselves around the table, 
they were surprised to see nothing before them but 
two puddings, made of coarse meal, called sawdust 
puddmgs in the common phrase, and a stone pitcher 
filled with water. He helped them all, and then 
applied himself to his own plate, partaking freely 
of the repast, and urging his friends to do the same. 
They taxed their politeness to the utmost, but all in 
vain ; their appetites refused obedience to the will. 
Perceiving their difficulty, Franklin at last arose 
and said, " My friejids, any one who can subsist upon 
sawdust pudding and water, as I can, needs no mmi's 
patronage.'''' 

About this time, Mr. Vernon, whose money he 
had received so many years before, but had hitherto 
been unable to repay, while it furnished an ever- 
recurring subject of annoyance, wrote to remind 
him of the debt. Franklin replied in a frank and 
ingenuous letter, acknowledging his remissness and 
stating the cause. He mentioned his present cir- 
cumstances, and asked a still longer time, which 
Mr. Vernon allowed him. As soon as Franklin was 
able, he paid the debt with interest: and many years 



88 LIFE OF 

afterward, when he was in France, as Minister from 
the United States, he still further manifested his 
sense of gratitude, by rendering important services 
to a young man who was a grandson of Mr. Vernon. 

And now came a new difficulty. Meredith, 
Franklin's associate, left nearly the whole business 
upon his partner's hands. He was a poor pressman, 
and could hardly set types at all ; and, to make a 
bad matter worse, notwithstanding all Franklin's 
efforts for his amendment, was seldom perfectly 
sober. Nor had his father been able to comply with 
the stipulations under which the partnership was 
formed. One hundred pounds only had been paid. 
Another hundred becoming due, the merchant grew 
impatient and sued for his money. Bail was given ; 
but if the residue of the money was not forthcoming 
in time, the materials would have to be sold to 
satisfy the debt, and all the flattering prospects of 
the young firm would be crushed in the bud. 

It may seem strange that Franklin's character 
could not obtain more indulgence from his creditor; 
but there was a sad disadvantage in his way. 
Meredith, his partner, was often seen intoxicated in 
the street, playing low games of chance in the ale- 
houses, and doing other things, not only to his own 
discredit, but to the injury of the character and 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 89 

credit of the firm. In this dilemma, two true friends, 
Robert Grace and Wilham Coleman, both members 
of the Junto, came to Franklin separately, and 
without the knowledge of each other. Each offered 
to advance the sum necessary to relieve him from 
his difficulties, provided he would dissolve with Me- 
redith, and take the whole business into his own 
hands. Franklin, honourable even to those who 
injured him, answered, that he could not think of 
proposing a dissolution to the Merediths while there 
was any hope that they would fulfil their agreement ; 
but told his friends that if opportunity offered, he 
would avail himself of their kindness. 

Meredith at length relieved him from the dilemma, 
by proposing to leave the firm. He said that he 
was sensible he was unfit for the business ; that his 
father had been disappointed, and was unable to 
fulfil his agreement, and proposed to relinquish his 
share of the concern, if Franklin would assume its 
debts, return his father the one hundred pounds he 
had advanced, and give him thirty pounds and a 
new saddle. With this oflTer Franklin, by the as- 
sistance of his friends, closed at once. Meredith 
used his new saddle to ride upon to South Carolina, 
where with a party of his friends he settled ; and 



90 L I F E O F 

Franklin was left in possession of the newspaper 
and the business. 

This was in the summer of 1730 ; and Franklin 
may be said from this day ever afterward to have 
gone on prosperously. One by one he repaired the 
great errors of his youth, as he himself terms them ; 
and his frugahty and industry, now unclogged by 
the faults of an indifferent partner, speedily showed 
their effects. His ability to write continued to be 
of the most essential service to him. He wrote a 
pamphlet on " The Nature and Necessity of a Paper 
Currency," which it was thought favourably influ- 
enced the action of the Assembly, in procuring an 
act authorizing such an emission ; and his friends 
in the House gave him the printing, which was a 
profitable job, and a great help to him. A friend 
also procured him the public printing of the Province 
of Delaware. He now opened a small stationer's 
shop, and offered in it legal blanks of all kinds, the 
most correct and neat that had ever been exposed 
for sale in Philadelphia. He was soon able to com- 
mence paying off the debt which he had incurred in 
buying the printing-oflice. He endeavoured not 
only to be really industrious and frugal, but to avoid 
everything which had an appearance of idleness 
and dissipation. He dressed plainly, was never 




FRANKLIN HIS OWN PORTER. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 91 

seen at places of idle diversion, wasted no time in 
hunting and fishing, and was not above trundling 
his purchases of stock for his store home on a 
wheelbarrow, when it was convenient or necessary. 
His favourite source of recreation, books, instructed 
as well as amused him ; and while reading did not 
expose him to the public charge of idleness, he took 
care that it did not really interfere with his industry, 
and was careful to be punctual in keeping his en- 
gagements. In this manner, winning and keeping 
public confidence, he went on thriving daily. 

While the good effects of Franklin's course were 
thus visible, the bad effects of an opposite mode of 
management were exhibited in another case. Kei- 
mer's business and credit daily declined, and at last 
he was forced to sell his office to satisfy his creditors. 
One of his apprentices, David Harry, bought the 
stock, and set up the business. Franklin dreaded 
Harry as a rival, as he had many powerful friends, 
and therefore proposed a partnership. This, Harry, 
fortunately for Franklin, declined with some scorn. 
But his mode of doing business was different from 
Franklin's. He dressed and lived extravagantly, 
was fond of public diversion and idle amusement, 
ran in debt, and neglected his business, until busi- 
ness neglected him ; and then finding nothing to do, 



92 L I F E O F 

packed up his printing-office, and followed Keimer 
with it to Barbadoes, where at length he made 
a total failure, and came back to Penns^^lvania 
without a penny. 

Franklin's thoughts — he was now five-and-twenty 
years old — began to be turned toward marriage. 
The failure of Keimer, and that of Harry, one after 
the other, broke off a rather mercenary arrange- 
ment, which the friends of a certain young woman 
had made to marry her to him, as they reasoned 
that the printing business was not a profitable one; 
and this, with his disappointment in other directions, 
■was a most fortunate circumstance for our hero, for 
it brought about a better match for him, and one 
which was the cause of much of his happiness in 
his after-life. Miss Read, to whom he was pledged 
while yet in his teens, was married, as the reader 
remembers, while Franklin was living in London, in 
neglect of his duty to her. But that marriage 
proved a most unfortunate one, and the husband a 
worthless and miserable fellow, who had already one 
wife livin<T in EnHand. Miss Read was soon taken 
from him by her friends, and did not even bear his 
name. He ran in debt, and then, a race which soon 
follows the other, ran away and died in the West 
Indies. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.^ 93 

A friendly relation, notwithstanding the unfortu- 
nate love affair, had always existed between Frank- 
lin and the Reads, since he boarded there. He was 
frequently invited to the house, and consulted in 
their affairs, and was able sometimes to be of 
service. He pitied Miss Read's unfortunate situa- 
tion. She was generally dejected, seldom cheerful, 
and avoided company. He considered his own 
giddiness and inconstancy while in London, as in a 
great degree the cause of Miss Read's unhappiness; 
though the mother insisted that the fault was more 
her's than Franklin's, as she prevented her marriage 
to Franklin before he went abroad, and induced the 
marriage with another in his absence. Their mutual 
affection was revived, and Franklin took her to wife 
on the first day of September, 1730. Of the manner 
in which Franklin commenced housekeeping the 
reader will judge from the following account, written 
by himself: 

"We have an English proverb that says, '•He 
that vjould thrive^ must ask his wife.'' It was lucky 
for me that I had one as much disposed to industry 
and frugality as myself. She assisted me cheerfully 
in my business, folding and stitching pamphlets, 
tending shop, purchasing old linen rags for the 
paper-makers, &c. We kept no idle servants, our 



94 LIFE OF 

table was plain and simple, our furniture of the 
cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was for a 
long time bread and milk (no tea), and I ate it out 
of a two-penny earthen porringer, with a pewter 
spoon. But mark how luxury will enter families, 
and make a progress in spite of principle ; being 
called one morning to breakfast, I found it in a 
China bowl, with a spoon of silver! They had 
been bought for me without my knowledge by my 
wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of three- 
and-twenty shillings ; for which she had no other 
excuse or apology to make, but that she thought 
her husband deserved a silver spoon and China bowl 
as well as any of his neighbours. This was the 
first appearance of plate and China in our house ; 
which afterwards, in a course of years, as our 
wealth increased, augmented gradually to several 
Imndred pounds in value." 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 95 



CHAPTER VII. 

Franklin's Statue — Philadelphia Library Company — Standing before 
Kings — Scheme of Moral Perfection — Scheme of Order — The 
Speckled Axe — Cause of Franklin's Success in Life — Poor Richard's 
Almanac — Commences the Study of Languages at the age of twenty- 
seven — Visits his Relations — His Public Life commences — Various 
Institutions and Enterprises under his auspices — Electrical Experi- 
ments — He draws Electricity from the Clouds. 

N South Fifth Street, at the corner of 
Library, many of our readers have 
often noticed a venerable-looking build- 
ing, "with a niche in its front, in which 
stands a statue of Franklin. It was 
placed there in 1792, by the munificence of 
William Bingham, Esq., a citizen of Phila- 
delphia; and was the first piece of sculp- 
ture of so large a size which had been seen 
in America. The Sage is represented standing, 
with his right arm resting upon a pile of books, and 
holding in his right hand an inverted sceptre, indi- 
cating his anti-monarchical and republican principles. 
In his left hand is a scroll. The statue is draped 
with a Roman toga, which the utilitarian philoso- 
pher would doubtless have denounced as a worse 




96 LIFE OF 

than superfluous ornament ; but in spite of it the 
resemblance is correct. The head is a copy of the 
excellent bust by Houdon. This piece of statuary 
was executed in Italy by Francis Lazzarini. Under 
the encouragement which art and genius receive, 
from a people living under the blessings of the free 
institutions which Franklin aided to establish, Ame- 
rica has since produced some of the best modern 
sculptors and painters. 

The building in front of which this statue is 
placed, is that occupied by the Philadelphia Library. 
This Library, which now embraces over fifty thou- 
sand volumes, and is continually increasing by the 
purchase of new publications, was founded in 1731 
by Benjamin Franklin. Its commencement was, 
by the depositing in one room, for mutual reference, 
the books belonging to the Junto. Then Franklin 
set on foot the idea of a subscription library. The 
original number of subscribers was fifty, which soon 
increased. As Dr. Franklin remarks, " this was the 
mother of all the North American Subscription 
Libraries, now so numerous." There were com- 
paratively few readers in Philadelphia when it was 
opened, but the library increased by donations, and 
reading became fashionable. The example was 
imitated in other places -, and the taste for reading, 



'imf 



INK' 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 97 

and the improvement of the mind of the people 
which followed, is justly claimed to have contributed 
in no small degree to the stand taken by the colo- 
nists in defence of their rights, which resulted in the 
Revolutionary struggle, and its glorious conclusion. 

This library afforded Franklin the means of im- 
provement, by constant study, for which he had set 
apart an hour or two each day ; thus in some mea- 
sure repairing the loss of the learned education 
which his father had intended for him. But this 
was the only amusement which he permitted himself; 
although his situation now daily grew easier, his 
original habits of frugality continuing. His father, 
in his youth, had frequently repeated to him the 
saying of Solomon : " Seest thou a man diligent in 
his calling ? He shall stand before kings^ he shall 
not stand before mean men^ From this saying, 
early impressed upon his mind, Franklin considered 
industry as a means of obtaining wealth and distinc- 
tion, which encouraged him; though he did not 
think that he should literally stand before kings, 
which afterward happened. Franklin stood in his 
life before five^ and sat down with one, the king of 
Denmark, to dinner. 

About this time, ease in his circumstances, grati- 
tude for his blessings, and a consciousness of his 

G 



98 L I F E O F 

imperfections, made Franklin conceive the bold and 
arduous project of aiming at moral perfection. To 
do this, he endeavoured to acquire the habit of 
avoiding scrupulously what he knew to be wrong, 
and doing what he knew to be right. In order to 
keep a watch upon himself, he ruled a little book 
into departments, one for each day of the week; 
and one for each of what he regarded the principal 
virtues, under every day ; so that at night he could, 
on a review of the day, record by simple marks of 
discredit what he considered his trangressions. On 
one page of this book he made what he called his 
Scheme of Order, for each day of twenty-four hours. 
Rising at five in the morning, the scheme required 
that the three first hours should be occupied by his 
devotions, the plan of the day's business, and the 
consideration of the question, " What good shall I 
do this day ?" The next four hours, work. From 
twelve o'clock till two, reading or examination of 
his accounts, and dinner. From six to nine in the 
evening, putting things in their places which had 
been moved or used during the day, supper, music, 
conversation, or diversion. Then self-examination 
until ten, when he retired for the night. This strict 
rule of order, he says, cost him much trouble. He 
made the discovery that, while this plan was possible 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 99 

for a man who had stated hours for work, like a 
journeyman-printer, for instance, it was not possible 
to be observed by a master, who must mix with the 
world, and receive people of business at their own 
hours. In this connection he relates the following 
pleasant anecdote : 

"This article (order), therefore, cost me much 
painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so 
much, and I made so little progress in amendment, 
and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost 
ready to give up the attempt, and content myself 
with a faulty character in that respect. Like the 
man who, in buying an axe of a smith, my neigh- 
bour, desired to have the whole of its surface as 
bright as the edge. The smith consented to grind 
it bright for him if he would turn the wheel : he 
turned, while the smith pressed the broad face of 
the axe hard and heavily on the stone, which made 
the turning of it very fatiguing. The man came 
from the wheel to see how the work went on ; and 
at length would take his axe as it was, without 
further grinding. ' No,' said the smith, * turn on, 
turn on, we shall have it bright by and by ; as yet 
it is only speckled.' * Yes,' said the man, ' but / 
ihmh I like a speckled axe best.'' " 

But although Franklin fell far short of moral 



100 LIFE OF 

perfection, the effort to attain it made him a far 
better and a happier man than if he had not at- 
tempted it; and in the seventy-ninth year of his hfe, 
while writing for his descendants to read, he says : 

" It may be well that my posterity should be in- 
formed that to this little artifice (the little book aad 
plan of Order), with the blessing of God, their an- 
cestor owed the constant felicity of his life, down 
to his seventy-ninth year, in which this is vrritten. 
What reverses may attend the remainder is in the 
hand of Providence ; but, if they arrive, the reflec- 
tion on past happiness enjoyed ought to help his 
bearing them with more resignation. To Tempe- 
rance he ascribes his long continued health, and 
what is still left to him of a good constitution ; to 
Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his 
circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, with 
all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful 
citizen, and obtained for him some desree of renu- 
tation among the learned ; to Sincerity and Justice, 
the confidence of his country, and the honourable 
employs it conferred upon him ; and to the joint 
influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in 
the imperfect state he was able to acquire them, all 
that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in 
conversation, which makes his company still sought 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 101 

for, and agreeable, even to his young acquaint- 



ance." 



In 1732 Franklin first published his famous Al- 
manac, under the name of Richard Saunders, which 
he continued about twenty-five years. It was com- 
monly called Poor Richard's Almanac, and under 
that title our readers have undoubtedly heard of it. 
This almanac was remarkable for the pithy sayings 
and proverbs which it contained; and in 1757 
Franklin collected them all, and formed them into a 
connected discourse, as a Preface to the Almanac 
for that year. This Preface, under the title of The 
Way to Wealth, has been translated into several 
of the modern languages, printed and reprinted, 
until it has become familiar as household words to 
everybody. The maxims it contains have doubtless 
laid the foundations of many fortunes ; but those 
misunderstand Franklin, who imagine that he con- 
sidered money misspent, when expended for such 
purposes as really improve the mind, or do good to 
a fellow-creature. 

At the age of twenty-seven Franklin commenced 
the study of languages, acquainting himself with 
French, Italian, Spanish, and to a good degree with 
Latin. While thus improving his own mind, and 
pursuing the acquisition of knowledge for the satis- 



J02 LIFE OF 

faction which it imparted to a mind hke his, his 
])hilanthropy and pubhc spirit were ever exorcised 
to make others participants in the benefits wliich he 
derived from liis studies. His newspaper was the 
vehicle of mucli benefit to tlie pubhc, as in this it 
was his habit not only to print matter of general 
interest and utility, but to advocate wiiatevcr 
special enterprise he had in hand for the public 
benefit. In 173G he paid his parents and other re- 
lations in Boston a visit, having been before unable, 
though he constantly corresponded with them in an 
aflectionate manner. On his return he called upon 
his brother James, now settled in Newport. The 
meeting was very cordial and alfectionate, all the 
diflerences of former years being buried and for- 
gotten, lie brought his brother's son to Philadel- 
phia with him as an apprentice ; and in after years 
befriended him and his widowed mother in so sub- 
stantial and considerate a manner, as amply to repay 
to the son the loss which the father sustained by the 
breach of Benjamin's indentures. And here we 
may remark, that to all his relations and friends 
who needed aid, he was never sparing of it when 
he possessed the ability; giving not only advice, 
which everybody is willing to do, but substantial 
assistance. 



« 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 103 

In 173G, when at the age of thirty-one, he re- 
ceived his first pubhc appointment, that of Clerk to 
the Assembly. In 1737 he was appointed Deputy 
Postmaster at Philadelphia. He continued Clerk of 
the Assembly till 1750, when he was elected a 
Representative from Philadelphia; and the same com- 
pliment was annually continued for fourteen years, 
without Franklin's asking an individual for his vote 
or influence. In 1749 he had taken as an active 
partner in his business Mr. David Hall, and retired, 
remaining a silent partner, and purposing, with the 
sufficient but moderate fortune which he had ac- 
quired, to devote the remainder of his life to philo- 
sophical studies and scientific amusements. But his 
fellow-citizens, finding him at leisure, were disposed 
to claim his services. In addition to his election to 
the Assembly, he was made a member of the Com- 
mon Council, and the Governor put him in commis- 
sion as a Justice of the Peace. In deliberative 
Assemblies he was put upon important committees, 
and intrusted with the most arduous and responsible 
commissions. In debate he usually carried his 
point. This he attributed to the modest manner in 
which he brought forward his opinions, as described 
in a previous chapter; since he says of himself, 
that he was " but a bad speaker, never eloquent, 



104 LIFE OF 

subject to much hesitation in the choice of words, 
and hardly correct in language." 

Nor were these formal and official modes the 
only ones in which he was employed in the public 
service. So much was his wisdom esteemed, that 
it was said to be impossible to carry through a 
public voluntary enterprise or association without 
the countenance of Franklin. What does Franklin 
think of it ? was the first question asked when any 
new undertaking was offered to the judgment of the 
citizens. We find Franklin connected with the 
origin of an effective Fire Department, and with 
lighting, paving, and watching the streets. Franklin 
originated the American Philosophical Society. 
Franklin procured the erection of a building for 
preachers of all denominations, in Fourth Street 
above Market. Franklin originated the plan of the 
Academy, which afterward occupied that building, 
until it was recently taken down, and a commodious 
and beautiful structure erected on its site for the 
same purposes. Franklin, though not the originator 
of the Pennsylvania Hospital, was so efficient a 
labourer for it, that he is sometimes spoken of as 
the founder, though he awards the credit to Dr. 
Thomas Bond. He also laboured so actively in 
procuring the formation of a military association 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 105 

for the defence of the Province in the war between 
Great Britain and Spain, that he was justly regarded 
as the soul of the enterprise, and was elected colonel 
of the regiment raised ; an honour which he declined, 
esteeming himself unfit for it. He also made many- 
useful. inventions, patents for which were taken out 
by others, among which was the well-known "Frank- 
lin Stove," for burning wood. 

Such were a part only of the services which 
Franklin rendered at this period of his hfe; the 
benefits of which, by example and by suggestion, 
have been continually increasing since. We now 
come to the great event of his life, that which has 
made his name most famous, and which, already of 
vast practical benefit, is destined to be of more 
hereafter than the mind can now compass or con- 
ceive. We speak of his discoveries in electricity. 
In 1746 his attention was called to the subject of 
electricity, while in Boston, by Dr. Spence, who had 
lately arrived from Scotland, and showed him some 
electrical experiments with a glass tube. The sub- 
ject, being new, highly interested Franklin. Shortly 
after his return to Philadelphia, the Library Com- 
pany received from Mr. Peter Collinson, in London, 
a similar glass tube, with some account of the 
manner of performing experiments with it. 



106 LIFE OP 

Franklin immediately seized the opportunity of 
repeating the experiments which he liad seen in 
Boston, to which he added those of which the ac- 
count was transmitted from England, and many new 
ones which were suggested to his philosopliical mind 
by practice. He caused similar tubes to be made 
in Philadelphia, and distributed among his friends, 
so that at length there were several persons engaged 
in the performance of curious electrical experiments. 
For one of them, Mr. Kinnersly, Franklin wrote 
two lectures. Mr. Kinnersly procured a splendid 
apparatus to be made from the models which 
Franklin had constructed for his own use, and 
these lectures were everywhere popular and useful. 

In 1749, Franklin first suggested his theory, ex- 
plaining the phenomena of thunder-gusts and the 
aurora borealis upon electrical principles ; and, in 
the same year, conceived the bold and grand idea 
of actuaiiy drawing down the lightning by sharp- 
pointed rods. While the matter was yet but theory, 
he argued upon the advantages which would accrue, 
by the protection of buildings, ships, &c. ; a theory 
which has now passed into a highly useful and salu- 
tary yac^ all over the civilized world. 

It was not until the summer of 1752, that he 
completed his discovery by actual experiments. 




FRANK LrN's EXPERIMENT WITH A KITE. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 107 

His original design was, to place an insulated 
pointed rod upon some high tower, for the trial of 
the experiment ; but there was at this time no tower 
in Philadelphia which would serve the purpose. At 
length the thought of a kite occurred to him. He 
prepared one of silk, as better adapted to withstand 
the rain than paper. To the upright stick of the 
kite an iron rod was affixed. The string was 
hempen twine, except the lower end, which was 
silk, and where the twine terminated a key was 
attached. 

With this apparatus he proceeded to the fields 
when he perceived a thunder-gust approaching. 
He was accompanied only by his son ; for the ex- 
periment was one so daring, and, if it failed, would 
be pronounced so foolish, that he did not care to 
run the risk of ridicule, and perhaps of pity, should 
the attempt prove abortive. Upon its success rested 
the truth of what he had been long advancing, rela- 
tive to the theory of electricity, and its identity 
with lightning. 

The kite was raised. A thunder-cloud passed 
over it — still there were no signs of electricity. 
Doubts and despair of the result which he had been 
labouring to establish began to come over him, when 
suddenly he observed the fibres of the hempen string 



108 LIFE OF 

bristling up in an erect position. He presented his 
knuckle to the key, and a spark followed ! Re- 
peated sparks were drawn from the key, a vial was 
charged, and several other successful trials were 
made. What must have been his sensations of 
triumph at this moment ! The experiment was com- 
pletely successful ; his theory was established, and 
Franklin's name was made immortal. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



109 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Franklin receives the Copley Medal, and Degrees from Yale and Har- 
vard — Is elected a INlember of the Royal Philosophical Society — Im- 
portance of small Things — Caps and Mittens — Chosen a Delegate 
to the Convention at Albany, 1754 — Plan of Union of the Colonies 
— Franklin provides Wagons for Gen. Braddock — Superintends the 
Fortifications on the Pennsylvania Frontier — Chosen Colonel of the 
Militia — Review of the Disputes between Pennsylvania and the Pro- 
prietaries — Disaster to Franklin's Apparatus — Franklin sent to Eng- 
land as Agent of the Assembly — St. George on Horseback. 

^^^RANKLIN'S wonderful discoveries 
in electricity, and his papers and 
, ^ letters upon that and other sciences, 
^^ upon government, and political and 
domestic economy, procured him an 
almost immediate contemporary reputation j 
for although some effort was made by the 
jealous and interested to withhold his due, 
envy itself could at last deny him justice no 
longer. His papers, refused a place at first in the 
London Philosophical Society's Transactions, made 
the fortune of a bookseller who published them in a 
separate work. The substance of them was trans- 
lated into several of the languages of Europe, and 




110 LIFE OF 

in France the scientific men reproduced his experi- 
ments with the same results. Then the Philoso- 
phical Society in London published a summary of 
what was by this time in every scientific man's 
l^nowledge ; thus giving at second-hand, what they 
might have had while fresh and novel. They also 
presented him with the Copley Medal for 1753, a 
mark of high respect, and gave him a still greater 
token of distinguished consideration, by election 
into their body without his request; excusing him 
the customary fees, which are very large, and giving 
him their Transactions, as from time to time they 
were published, gratis. By this his pleasure in phi- 
losophical pursuits was increased, and his usefulness 
greatly enhanced. About the same time he was 
complimented with honorary degrees, by Yale Col- 
lege and Harvard University. These were but the 
commencement of similar compliments, which were 
never bestowed where they were better deserved. 
In the same year (1753) he was appointed Post- 
master General in America, jointly with Mr. William 
Hunter. 

While mindful of these high scientific employ- 
ments and important offices, he was attentive to 
small things and small improvements. He correctly 
argues that "human felicity is produced, not so 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Ill 

much by great pieces of good fortune, that seldom 
happen, as by httle advantages that occur every day. 
Thus, if you teach a poor young man to shave 
himself and keep his razor in order, you may con- 
tribute more to the happiness of his hfe than in 
giving him a thousand guineas ! This sum may be 
soon spent, the regret only remaining of having 
foolishly consumed it; but, in the other case, he 
escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, 
and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive 
breaths, and dull razors ; he shaves when most con- 
venient to him, and enjoys daily the pleasure of its 
being done with a good instrument." 

When we read Franklin's writings, we find the 
lessons of his wisdom drawn, not from the great 
events which happen only to people in his prominent 
position, but the small ones which occur to every- 
body. Arguing that the use of superfluities may 
produce more than it consumes, he relates, as an 
illustration, that the skipper of a small shallop, 
which was employed between Philadelphia and 
Cape May, had done him some small service for 
which he refused to be paid. Mrs. Franklin, under- 
standmg that the skipper had a daughter, sent her 
a new-fashioned cap. Three years after, this skip- 
per being at Franklin's house, with a passenger, an 



112 LIFE OF 

old farmer of Cape May, mentioned the cap, and 
how much his daughter had been pleased with it. 
" But," he added, " it proved a dear cap to our con- 
gregation." " How so ?" " When my daughter 
appeared with it at meeting, it was so much admired 
that all the girls resolved to get such caps from 
Philadelphia ; and my wdfe and I computed that the 
whole could not have cost less than a hundred 
pounds." " True," said the farmer, his passenger, 
" but you do not tell all the story. I think the cap 
was, nevertheless, an advantage to us, for it was the 
first thing that put our girls upon knitting worsted 
mittens for. sale at Philadelphia, that they might 
have wherewithal to buy caps and ribbons there ; 
and you know that that industry has continued, and 
is likely to continue and increase to a much greater 
value, and answer better purposes." Franklin play- 
fully says in conclusion, that upon the whole, he was 
more reconciled to this little piece of luxury, since 
not only were the girls made happier by having fine 
caps, but the Pliiladelphians by the supply of warm 
raiittens. And we may add, as a commentary upon 
the anecdote, that it conveys in a pleasant and 
easily remembered way, the pith and essence of 
many a bulky volume upon trade and commerce. 
In all that Franklin wrote, scientific, moral, or 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 113 

hnmorous, he had a philanthropic or useful object 
in view. This is true no less of his private corres- 
pondence than of his writings for the pubhc ; and 
his letters, addressed to his connections and friends, 
many of which have been published since his death, 
forming a large collection, embrace lessons of wis- 
dom, combined with a grace and excellence of epis- 
tolary composition which have seldom been equalled; 
and when the various circumstances under which 
these letters were written are considered, we may 
safely say, that as a whole they have never been 
excelled. It is from his correspondence that much 
of the practical wisdom is quoted, upon which his 
reputation rests. Equally felicitous in whatever he 
undertook to say, his letters descriptive of his phi- 
losophical experiments, his lessons of frugality and 
household economy to his connections, and his dis- 
cussions of such subjects as the art of swimming, 
are all models. One reason of this general excel- 
lence, and, we may add, the great reason was, that 
he never undertook to write or to talk of that which 
he did not comprehend. 

His strict economy of time enabled him to pursue 
the useful and scientific speculations which were his 
delight, even after he was engrossed by public em- 
ployments. From his first entrance into oflicial life, 

H 



Ill LIFE OK 

lie inav be said to have been incessantly enirasfed in 
the service oi' liis fellow-citizens and of his country. 
Iq 175-4, war between Great l>ritain and her deptn- 
deneies and France being apprehended, Franklin 
\vas chosen a delegate to attend a convention oi' 
representatives of the several colonies, which as- 
sembled at Albany, X. Y., to concert plans for the 
nuitual detence. In tliis body Franklin brouiiht 
forward a plan for the o;eneral nnion of the colonies, 
for the purposes of defence and other ijeneral ob- 
jects. It was similar in many of its principles and 
features to the Federal I'nion oi' the United States, 
leaving each colony its domestic atVairs uninterfered 
Avith. Tiie plan was unanimously agreed to, after 
debate in the convention, and submitted to the Home 
Government in Kngland, and to the Assemblies of 
the several colonies. Init. in l\ngland, it was thought 
to give too much power to the people ot' the pro- 
vinces : and in America, it was objected that it gave 
too much to the crown ; and it was thus rejected 
upon both sides oi' the water — pretty good proof 
that the rights of each party were impartially re- 
spected in it. Had it been adopted, many of the 
jirievances which led to the revolutionarv war would 
liave been avoided, and that great event would thus, 
probably, have been long postponed. The over- 



f{ K s .; A M I ;. y it a ;; k i, i n . 1 J 5 

rulinf Proviflorico which diroctH tho aff'aira of nations, 
KOt the f^oofJ counHol of I'rankhn '.ihkU^; and tem- 
porary c-xpr;fJiontH wero ado{itf;d, which resulted in 
the attempt at taxation of tiie jjf;op|f;, by a hody in 
which they hjid no rej^re-enfativeH, the Jiritinh J^ar- 
]i?jment; and tiji.s taxation of an unreprenented 
people led eventually to the revolutionary war. 

'I'he next important public service in which we 
find I'rariklifi enf.^?jged, wan the procuring of" war^onn 
and HU[)[jIieH for (ien. IJraddock',-; army ; with who:-;^ 
di;-:afitrouB deff;at the reader in familiar from other 
hookn, as the affair waH connected with the history 
of WaH[nnf.^ton. Jn fji.s life will he found an account 
of the dihanlrouH battle of Monongahela. Frank- 
lin's .services were most imfK^rtant, an, ho much was 
he known and renpected, that his personal r/uarantee 
obtained supplies which could not otherwise have 
been had in season. Notwithstandinrr his patriotism 
and public spirit, he was never fully compensated 
by the IJritish CoverLment for his actual expendi- 
tures. 

In 1705, Franklin havin;^ been active in procuring 
the passage of two Acts through the Assembly, one 
for the raising of sixty thousand pounds, and the 
other for the enrolling and disciplining of a volun- 
tary militia, was appointed a commissioner for di»- 



116 LIFE OP 

bursing the money raised by one Act, and chosen a 
colonel of the militia enrolled under the other. The 
Indians having burned Gnadenhutten, a Moravian 
settlement, then on the frontier, killed the inhabitants, 
and committed other massacres, the Governor of 
Pennsylvania appointed Frankhn to raise troops, 
and build three forts for the defence of the frontier. 
This service he executed satisfactorily; for, as 
Franklin says of another, we may say of him^ 
" though not bred a soldier, he was sensible and 
sagacious in himself, and attentive to good advice 
from others, capable of forming judicious plans, and 
quick and active in carrying them into execution." 

A military commission was not much, however, 
to Franklin's taste. When several years before 
elected a colonel of a voluntary regiment, it will be 
remembered he declined accepting the honour ; but 
upon his second election in 1756, he consented to 
serve. The commission, however, was one of short 
date, for the law under which the regiment was 
formed was repealed in England. A brief review 
of the character of the institutions of Pennsylvania, 
as a colony, will make the reader understand some 
important events in Franklin's life. William Penn, 
whose liberality, benevolence, and enlightened views, 
have made his name dear to all lovers of his race, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 117 

obtained such a charter from the British crown, as 
seemed to secure the pohtical rights of the colonists 
on the broadest and surest basis. Under this charter 
Penn gave another charter to the people, which se- 
cured universal tolerance in religion, and gave so 
great freedom in legislation, that the Province 
seemed, theoretically at least, independent. 

But, as is more or less the case with all human 
institutions, the operation of this system developed 
troublesome defects. The sons of William Penn, 
when they became Proprietaries, sent out Deputy- 
Governors with imperative instructions, which often 
conflicted with the wishes of the people, and which 
compelled the Executive to refuse assent to laws 
which were essential to the welfare of the Province. 
The legislation of the Province in the course of time 
became clogged with new difficulties. 

All laws, after they had gone through the forms 
of legislation in the Province, though they went into 
effect as soon as passed, were sent to England for 
examination. They were laid first before the Board 
of Trade, then examined by the Crown Solicitor, 
then passed upon by the Board of Trade, and then 
sent to the King's Council for final action. If ap- 
proved, the law stood ; if rejected, its operation 
was instantly suspended in the Province, and the 



118 L I FE O F 

Act declared null and void. It was in this way that 
the Act under which Franklin had been chosen 
colonel was repealed; but he remained in office long 
enough to be honoured by a salute before his door, 
from his regiment ; which empty honour knocked 
down and broke many glasses of his electrical appa- 
ratus. 

It will be seen that this made an asrent of the 
Assembly necessary in England. If the Proprie- 
taries disliked an Act which had passed the Provin- 
cial Legislature, they employed counsel to argue 
against it before the Board of Trade. Thus, the 
passage of a law in which the wishes of the Pro- 
prietaries were at all interfered with, was a scene of 
troublesome contention from beginning to end, even 
if successful. Their Deputy-Governor opposed it 
in Pennsylvania, refusing his signature. Franklin, 
on these occasions, was for fourteen years the 
champion of the Assembly. It was customary in 
those days, when the Governor of a Province sent 
a Message to the Assembly, for the Assembly to 
vote a reply. These replies, arguing the point at 
issue with the Governor, were almost always from 
the pen of Franklin ; and in these were first publicly 
exhibited, the knowledge and aptitude as a politician, 
the judgmentj and the sound views of the rights 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 119 

of the people, the sterhng repubhcanism, and com- 
manding talents, which afterward called him into 
the service of the thirteen provinces, when they 
claimed their title to rise from colonies to Thirteen 
United States, free and independent. 

In 1757, so much and so hopelessly had the As- 
sembly and the Governors clashed, that the Assem- 
bly determined to send a special agent, with a re- 
monstrance, to the Proprietaries. Franklin was 
chosen as this agent. His instructions were, to see 
the Proprietaries, present them the remonstrance, 
and endeavour to brinj? about an amicable arrange- 
ment of the difficulties. Failing in this, he was 
furnished with a petition to the Crown. The com- 
mission was a highly important one, requiring a 
man of precisely the character that Franklin pos- 
sessed ; and we have endeavoured to state in as 
clear and brief a manner as possible, the difficulties 
which encumbered the business. If our readers 
have found the statement c?ry, they must recollect 
that no history or biography can be made intelligible 
without some uninteresting details ; and, taking 
Franklin as an example, they must not be afraid of 
a little labour in the acquisition of knowledge, if 
they would share in the benefits which knowledge 
confers. 



120 LIFE OF 

Franklin took passage in a vessel which was to 
depart on the first of April. But, as she was 
a government packet, and her time of sailing was 
in the control of Lord Loudon, a very dilatory man, 
then Governor of New York, the vessel did not 
start until about the last of June ! Franklin records 
in his memoirs, an amusing remark of a gentleman 
upon Lord Loudon's character. This gentleman 
had waited two weeks for letters, which his lordship 
had promised daily to write. " Is it possible," said 
Franklin, " when he is so great a writer ? for I see 
him constantly at his escritoire." " Yes," said the 
other, " always at his desk ; but he is hke St. 
George on the signs, always 07i horseback, and never 
rides on.''^ 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



121 



CHAPTER IX. 



Franklin's Arrival in London — He finds that his Fame has preceded him, 
and receives high Literary and other Honours — His Devotion to 
Philosophical Pursuits, and his laborious Attention to the Public 
Service — Completes his Business — Declines the Invitation of Friends 
to remain in England, and returns to America — The Paxton Murders 
— Franklin's important Services — Revival of Difficulties between the 
Governor and the Assembly — The Stamp Act — Franklin loses his 
Election to the Assembly — Is deputed Agent to England — Strong 
Opposition against him — Flattering Compliment of his Fellow- 
Citizens — Sails for England. 

RANKLIN arrived in London, on 
his mission to the Proprietaries, on 
the 27th of July, 1757. On his pas- 
sage out, the vessel in which he 
sailed narrowly escaped shipwreck 
on the Scilly Rocks ; and in a letter to his 
wife, after giving an account of his landing, 
he adds : " The bells ringing for church, we 
went thither immediately, and, with hearts 
full of gratitude, returned sincere thanks to God for 
the mercies we had received." 

Under what different circumstances from his first, 
was this second visit made to London ! Then, a poor 




122 LIFE OF 

boy, he found himself in a strange country, alone 
and unfriended, the dupe of a designing man. Now, 
ripe in years and experience, and honourably de- 
puted on an important trust, he came to review the 
scenes which he had visited thirty years before, and 
to verify tiie promise which his conduct on his first 
visit had indicated for his future fame. In the 
mean time, his brilliant discoveries in electricity, 
and his scientific correspondence with many learned 
men in Europe, had prepared them to welcome him; 
■while his political prominence in Pennsylvania, and 
his able publications upon colonial and other ques- 
tions, gave him eminence as a statesman. It was 
Franklin who urged upon the British Ministry the 
conquest of Canada, by his pamphlets, demonstrating 
the advantages of waging war with France in 
America, rather than in Europe. 

The Universities of St. Andrews, of Edinburgh, 
and of Oxford, conferred upon him the degree of 
Doctor of Laws. Learned Societies in every part 
of Europe, pressed upon him the compliment of 
membership. Letters of congratulation and wel- 
come reached him from all countries, and his cor- 
respondence was sought by the most distinguished 
philosophers of that day. He remained in Europe 
five years, during which period he travelled much, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 123 

both in England, in tracing the history of the 
Franklin family, and upon the continent. He also 
visited Scotland, forming an acquaintance with dis- 
tinguished men of that country. He was presented 
with the freedom of Edinburgh, being " admitted a 
burgess and guild-brother of the city, as a mark of 
the affectionate respect of the Magistrates and 
Council for a gentleman, whose amiable character, 
greatly distinguished for usefulness to the society 
which he belonged to, and love to all mankind, had 
long ago reached them across the Atlantic Ocean." 
In other places he was paid the same compliment. 

These lionours and attentions had no other effect 
upon him, than to double his diligence in the pursuit 
of that practical knowledge which had won for him 
such high praise. Wherever he travelled, by sea 
or by land, matters which had passed for years 
without suggesting a thought to common observers, 
formed the hint to Franklin of curious theories, and 
valuable and useful discoveries. Everything which 
he touched was improved by him. His criticisms 
on music, and his invention of a curious instrument 
called the Armonica, once much in vogue, are proofs 
of the universality of his genius; or perhaps we 
should say of that habit of analysis, and resort to 
first and simple principles, which mark a truly phi- 



124 LIFE OF 

losopliical mind, and which were apphed by Franklin 
to all his investigations. , 

Nor, with these various occupations and pursuits 
occupying his leisure, was he unmindful of the 
public business. This he prosecuted, not as an eye- 
servant, careful to preserve only the appearance of 
service, but like a patriot, with his whole heart and 
soul. His publications in the newspapers and in 
pamphlets, in vindication of his countrymen, and in 
furtherance of the objects of his mission, and of 
other schemes of public benefit and utility, during 
the five years for which he remained at this time in 
England, would have made the hfe of any other man 
remarkable, and have furnished a much more ample 
capital than that upon which many distinguished 
men have been famous. 

While the disputes between the Proprietaries and 
the Assembly of Pennsylvania involved several 
other points, the main difficulty was the claim made 
by the former, that their immense estates in Penn- 
sylvania should be exempted from the taxes levied 
for the government of the Province. Franklin met 
great delays in bringing the object to bear for which 
he was deputed ; but at length, the influence of his 
writings and his exertions, aided by occurrences in 
Pennsylvania, brought the dispute to a compromise. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 125 

The Governor of Pennsylvania, contrary to his in- 
structions, had assented to a law imposing a tax, 
in which the estates of the Proprietaries were not 
exempted. The law was sent over to England for 
approval. The Proprietaries opposed, and Franklin 
defended it ; and the result was a withdrawal of the 
opposition, on Franklin's pledging himself, as the 
agent of the Assembly, that the Proprietaries' estates 
should be equitably taxed, in the same proportion as 
other property. Thus, after about three years' 
effort, was his mission accomplished. A further 
trust was imposed upon him in 1760, by a vote of 
the Assembly directing liim to receive thirty thou- 
sand pounds, a Parliamentary grant to the Province. 
This sum was paid into the hands of Franklin, and 
invested and disbursed by him to the entire satis- 
faction of the Assembly. 

Mr. Strahan, afterwards the King's Printer, and 
a Member of Parliament, with whom Franklin had 
long corresponded, strove very hard to induce him 
to remove to England and reside there. There is 
no doubt that, in a pecuniary point of view, the 
move would have been for Franklin's benefit. But 
his wife was averse to it. Besides, Franklin loved 
his country too well to desire to leave it, and had 
higher piotives for his conduct than considerations 



126 LIFE OF 

of mere gain ; and he accordingly declined the pro- 
posals of his friends, and returned to Philadelphia 
in the autumn of 1762, his public business abroad 
being satisfactorily concluded. 

He had been regularly chosen a Member of the 
Assembly during his absence j and, on his return, 
that body voted him three thousand pounds sterling 
for his services abroad, and passed a vote of thanks 
for the benefits rendered, not only to the Province of 
Pennsylvania, but to America in general. And now 
came a new proof of his character and influence. 
The close of the war with France had occasioned 
the disbanding of the armies which were posted on 
the frontiers of the Province; and the Indians, 
taking advantage of this, committed many depreda- 
tions and murders in the defenceless settlements. 
In retaliation, a party of mounted men, principally 
inhabitants of Donegal and Paxton townships, in 
York county, attacked a settlement of friendly In- 
dians, about twenty in number, and murdered the 
old men, women, and children, the rest being absent 
at work. Those who by absence escaped the mas- 
sacre, were conducted to Lancaster, and locked in 
the jail for security. The Governor issued his 
proclamation, calling upon the officers and the 
people to aid in bringing the perpetrators to punish- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 127 

ment, but it produced no effect. A party of the 
same insurgents marched into Lancaster, and break- 
ing open the jail, butchered the poor Indians who 
had been placed there for safety. The Indian con- 
verts of the Moravian Brethren, and other friendly 
Indians, in number about one hundred and twenty, 
repaired to Philadelphia for security. The Governor 
issued another proclamation ; but these official pro- 
mulgations of threats and warnings appear to have 
had no influence whatever, for the insurgents threat- 
ened to come down to Philadelphia, and put to death 
all the Indians who had taken refuge there. The 
Assembly, then in session, immediately determined 
to repel any such attack ; and the poor fugitives 
were taken into the city, and lodged in barracks. 

Franklin had not been idle. He had written and 
pubhshed a " Narrative of the Late Massacres in 
Lancaster County," in which the enormity of the 
murder of these friendly Indians, and its wicked 
and barbarous injustice, were most vividly painted. 
A terrible spirit was abroad ; and there were not 
wanting strong advocates, who defended the con- 
duct of the "Paxton Boys" with much specious 
sophistry. But the time had now arrived when a 
more forcible argument than the pen was needed, 
and a stronger defence than lo^ric, however sound, 



128 LIFE OF 

was necessary to protect the weak. There was no 
regular mihtia in the Province ; the bill to establish 
a voluntary militia having been lost in England, as 
the reader has already been informed. Franklin 
was appealed to in the exigency, and, as he had 
done on two occasions before, he formed a military 
association. Nearly one thousand citizens enrolled 
for the defence of the poor Indians who had thrown 
themselves upon the hospitality of the city. The 
Paxton Boys, who had advanced upon their bloody 
errand, paused at Germantown, hearing of the pre- 
parations which had been made to receive them. 
Franklin and three other gentlemen were appointed 
by the Governor to go out and meet them. By the 
arguments of Franklin, addressed to them person- 
ally, strengthened no doubt by the more cogent 
ones which had been prepared under his direction 
in Philadelphia, the insurgents were induced to re- 
turn peaceably to their homes. The narrative above 
referred to, written by Franklin, is one of the most 
remarkable of the productions of his pen. 

Difficulties were now revived between the Gover- 
nor and the x\ssembly. Notwithstanding the order 
m council that had been issued, requiring the equal 
taxation of the lands of the Proprietaries with those 
held by citizens, Gov. John Penn, who was appointed 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 129 

in 1763, sought to evade the plain construction of 
it, and substitute another. The dispute ran so high 
that, in 1764, the Assembly passed a series of reso- 
lutions, the purport of which was, that the peace 
and happiness of the Province could never be re- 
stored, until the government of it was taken from 
the Proprietaries, and lodged in the Crown. The 
people seconded these resolutions by petitions ad- 
dressed to the King, praying for a change of govern^ 
ment ; a movement in part produced by a pamphlet 
from the pen of Franklin. The Assembly adopted 
a similar petition by a large majority, though the 
Speaker, unwilling to sign the document, resigned 
his place. Franklin was elected his successor, 
and as Speaker signed the petition, which, with the 
others, was forwarded to the agent of the Pro- 
vince in London. 

At the next session, a matter of more general im- 
portance came up. In this year (1764) an immense 
excitement was created throughout the colonies, by 
the intention of the British Ministry to derive a 
revenue from America by stamp duties, in violation 
of the principle that subjects should not be taxed, 
except by themselves or their representatives. The 
Assembly sent instructions to their agent, remon- 
strating against any such scheme ; and signing these 

I 



130 LIFE OF 

instructions was the last act of Dr. Franklin as 
Speaker of the House. At the next election, the 
Proprietary party, resolved to get rid of a man who 
had been so constant and able an opponent, bent 
all their efforts to defeat Dr. Franklin. They suc- 
ceeded in procuring a majority of twenty-four votes 
against him, in four thousand ; and, after having 
been elected for fourteen successive years, he was 
this year defeated. But the triumph against him 
was short-lived ; for almost the first act of the 
Assembly was, to appoint Dr. Franklin a special 
agent, to proceed to England, and there take charge 
of the petition to the King, and prosecute the objects 
he had so faithfully laboured for at home. 

The vexation of his opponents, as will readily be 
imagined, was extreme. The party adverse to him 
opposed the appointment with the most desperate 
zeal, and not only made violent speeches in the 
House, but caused a remonstrance to be signed by 
their friends not in the Legislature, and presented 
to that body. This movement, being regarded as 
an attempt to prejudice or bias the House, had no 
other effect than to unite his friends, and to hasten 
the action which his opponents so earnestly depre- 
cated. When the appointment was made, the re- 
monstrants put their objections in the form of a 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 131 

protest, but the House refused to receive it, pro- 
nouncing it unprecedented and unparliamentary. 
The authors then caused it to be published in the 
newspapers, an act of gratuitous enmity, as no pos- 
sible end could be effected by it except the mortifi- 
cation of Franklin. It is proper to remind the 
reader, however, that in all these charges and ob- 
jections, nothing whatever was alleged against 
Franklin's integrity or character as a man. The 
objections made were on grounds entirely political, 
aud brought out a most spirited and able reply from 
Dr. Franklin. 

In tw^elve days after his appointment, he was 
ready to leave Philadelphia for England, upon his 
mission. There was no money in the Provincial 
treasury to defray his expenses, but the Assembly 
voted that in the next bill for raising money these 
expenses should be provided for. Upon this pledge, 
the merchants of Philadelphia in two hours sub- 
scribed eleven hundred pounds, as a loan to the 
public for the object; and, on the 7th of November, 
1764, Franklin left the city for Chester, where he 
was to embark, accompanied by a cavalcade of 
three hundred citizens. Thus did faction, in endea- 
vouring to defeat and crush a friend of the people, 
procure him a civic triumph. 



132 LIFE OF 

Franklin was much affected by these proceedings. 
*' The affectionate leave taken of me by so many 
dear friends at Chester," he writes, " was very en- 
dearing. God bless them, and all Pennsylvania !" 
And in his reply to the protest, which we have al- 
ready noticed, he says : " I am now to take leave, 
perhaps a last leave, of the country I love, and in 
which I have spent the greatest part of my life. 
Ji!sto perpetua; I wish every kind of prosperity to 
my friends, and I forgive my enemies." He was 
now in his 59th year, and seems to have looked 
upon his life as nearing its close. But many years, 
the most active and useful of his life, inasmuch as 
they embraced the application of his matured ex- 
perience to the exigencies of a great national crisis, 
yet remained to him. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



133 



CHAPTER X. 



Passage of the Stamp Act — Its Eflects in America — Successful Resist 
ance of the Colonists — Examination of Dr. Franklin on the Subject 
— Repeal of the Stamp, and Passage of the Declaratory Act — Pro- 
phetic Letter of Dr. Franklin — Tax Law of 1767 — Non-Importation 
Agreements — Franklin appointed Agent for three more Provinces^ 
Becomes obnoxious to the British Government — Arbitrary Course of 
Lord Hillsborough — Franklin makes a tour through different parts 
of Britain — Dines with the King of Denmark — The Electrical Con- 
troversy — Compliment to Franklin in Dublin. 

HE month of March, 1765, is memo- 
rable for the passage, by the Enghsh 
Parliament, of the famous Stamp Act. 
The rumoured intention of the Min- 
istry to bring forward such a mea- 
sure had, as we have seen, been the subject 
of much popular commotion, and in some 
cases of legislative action, in the colonies. 
The consummation of that intention was fol- 
lowed by most resolute opposition and remonstrance 
in the legislative bodies in America, and by popular 
violence and resistance, of a character most alarming 
to the friends of the prerogative. A general Con- 
gress, or Convention of delegates from the colonies, 




134 LIFE OP 

the first meeting of the kind, was held in New York, 
at which a declaration of rights, and an enumera- 
tion of grievances, were set forth. This instrument 
asserted taxation by themselves only, and trial by 
jury, as among the inherent rights of the colonists, 
as well as other subjects of the British Crown ; and 
similar steps were taken in the Colonial Assemblies. 
The newspapers were full of earnest discussions of 
a question so vitally affecting the rights of Ameri- 
cans ; and some of the ablest men in the country 
wrote pamphlets, remarkable alike for soundness 
and depth of reasoning, and warmth of appeal to 
manhood and patriotism — qualities which are sel- 
dom found in the same performance. 

Popular meetings were held, and the zealous op- 
position of the people was inflamed to the very 
highest pitch of angry and determined resistance. 
The Legislative bodies declared against the princi- 
ples under which the British Government acted ; 
the people seized something more tangible, and 
declared against the agents who had accepted ap- 
pointments under the Act. The distributors of the 
stamps were threatened, and, where they proved 
contumacious, were burned in effigy, and in some 
cases tarred and feathered. They were odious in 
the sight of the people, for having accepted office 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 135 

under an Act which was justly obnoxious ; and so 
resolute was the opposition, that every stamp officer 
in the country was compelled to resign his commis- 
sion ; and when the stamped paper arrived, the 
governors were compelled to keep it on board of 
armed vessels in the harbours; and it was all, at 
length, sent back to Enjrlaiid. On the 1st of No- 
vember, the day on which the Act was to have 
taken place, neither stamp officer nor stamped paper 
was to be found in the colonies. 

The ministry which carried the Stamp Act went 
out soon after, and the Marquis of Rockingham, 
who succeeded, deemed it advisable to quell the dis- 
turbance, or allay it, by a repeal of the obnoxious 
Act. The discussion of the question of this repeal 
was conducted with great zeal and ability by both 
parties in the English Commons, and Dr. Franklin 
and other gentlemen were summoned and examined. 
He was questioned in the presence of a full House, 
by members of all parties ; and the examination 
took a range exceedingly wide. It embraced ques- 
tions developing, on the part of the answerer, a 
readiness of reply, and a perfect acquaintance with 
the condition of the colonies, the nature of their 
relation to the mother country, the principles of 
constitutional law, the operations of finance, and 



136 LIFE OF 

the history of English and Colonial politics, which 
astonished his auditors. The dignity of his manner, 
his promptness and self-possession, and the epigram- 
matic neatness of many of his answers, remind the 
reader of his early aptness in the Socratic Method. 

In consequence of the dispute about taxation, 
non-importation agreements had been entered into 
in America, and many of the questions related to 
this subject. Franklin said, in answer to questions, 
that he did not know a single article imported into 
the Northern Colonies, that they could not either 
do without or make themselves. He said that the 
articles imported were, either necessaries, conve- 
niences, or luxuries. The first, Avith a little industry, 
they could make at home ; the second they could do 
without, until able to provide themselves; the third, 
forming the far greater part, they would strike off 
immediately. The superfluities, he said, were arti- 
cles purchased and consumed, because they wore 
the fashion in a respected country, but if the Act 
was not repealed would be despised and rejected. 
When asked if the Americans would be willing to 
prefer a worse article of their own, at the same 
price, over a better article from abroad, he answered, 
that people would pay as freely to gratify one pas- 
sion as another, their resentment as their pride. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 137 

He said, when asked whether the Americans would 
pay the stamp duty if it were moderated, "No, 
never, unless compelled by force of arms ;" and that 
he did not see how a military force could be applied 
for that purpose. " Suppose a military force sent 
into America, they will find nobody in arms ; what 
are they then to do ? They cannot force a man to 
take stamps who chooses to do without them. They 
will not find a rebeUion; they may indeed make 
one." Again, " I can only judge what other people 
will think, and how they will act, by what I feel 
within myself. I have a great many debts due me 
in America, and I had rather they should remain 
unrecoverable by any law, than submit to the Stamp 
Act. They will be debts of honour." When asked 
how the Americans would receive another tax, im- 
posed upon the same principles, he said, " Just as 
they do this, they will never pay it." 

Such are specimens of some of his answers, but 
the statistical replies and weighty reasoning cannot 
be given in an abstract. There can be no doubt, 
that the examination of Dr. Franklin had great 
weight in enabling the Ministry to carry the measure 
of repeal. The answers of Dr. Franklin upon the 
occasion, stand among the best evidences, both of 
his patriotism and his ready practical wit and wisdom 



138 LIFE OF 

'• What," it was asked at the close, " used to be the 
pride of Americans?" He answered, "To indulge 
in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain." 
" What is now their pride ?" " To wear their old 
clothes over again, until they can make new ones." 
The Stamp Act was repealed in March, 1766; 
but the Act repealing it was accompanied by an- 
other, declaring the right of Parliament " to bind 
the colonies in all cases whatsoever ;" thus assert- 
ing the very claim, in opposition to which the people 
contended while resisting the Stamp Act. But the 
repeal of the obnoxious Act restored temporary 
quiet, while the colonists still watched with jealous 
eyes the proceedings of the government. Dr. Frank- 
lin's correspondence at this time was voluminous, 
with friends upon both sides of the water. In a 
letter, written to Lord Kames, occurs the following 
prophetic passage : " America, an immense territory, 
favoured by natnre with all advantages of climate, 
soil, great navigable rivers, and lakes, must become 
a great country, populous and mighty; and will, in 
a less time than is generally conceived, be able to 
shake off any shackles that may be imposed upon 
her, and, perhaps, place them on the imposers. In 
the mean time, every act of oppression will sour 
their tempers, lessen greatly, if not annihilate, the 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. l39 

profits of your commerce with them, and hasten 
their final revolt ; for the seeds of liberty are uni- 
versally found there, and nothing can eradicate 
them." 

During the tranquillity which followed the repeal 
of the Stamp Act, Franklin visited Paris, furnished 
with letters from the French Ambassador in London. 
In 1767, however, things were in a ferment again. 
Another change of ministers had taken place, and 
the Government, which now seemed committed to 
its purpose of asserting the right to tax the colonies, 
imposed a tax on sundry articles imported into the 
Provinces. This Act gave great oflTence, which 
was increased by laws for estabhshing commissioners 
of the customs in the colonies, and making the sala- 
ries of governors, judges, and other officers, charge- 
able upon the Crown, instead of payable by the 
Colonial Assemblies. This latter change, while it 
rendered the officers entirely independent of the 
people, had another mischievous tendency — the re- 
cognition of the right of the Home Government to 
tax the colonies. Town meetings were held, begin- 
ning in Boston, and extending all over the Provinces, 
at which the people pledged themselves to all modes 
of legal and peaceful resistance ; and agreements 
were drawn up and signed, by which the subscriber? 



140 LIFE OF 

pledged themselves to the use of American, and the 
disuse of foreign articles. Franklin was all this 
lime busy in England, with his pen, and with the 
weight of his personal influence ; and he constantly 
encouraged his friends in America to persevere. 
Gov. Hutchinson of Massachusetts alleges, that the 
opponents of the government in that Province were 
guided by his advice ; and, as is remarked by one 
of his biographers, neither in Massachusetts, nor 
else^\here, had the patriots any reason to regret 
that they followed such advice, or were guided by 
such a counsellor. 

Dr. Franklin's son being Governor of New Jersey, 
he had been in the habit of rendering occasional 
services to that colony, and in 17G9 he was chosen 
the agent for New Jersey. During the year pre- 
vious a similar appointment was conferred upon him 
by Georgia ; and in the year following, Massachu- 
setts, with some of whose leading citizens he had 
long corresponded, chose him, through the Legisla- 
ture, the agent of that colony, thus giving him the 
interests of four of the Provinces to look after. 
But Dr. Franklin, by iiis active services in the cause 
of his country; and his voluminous writings, had 
now become obnoxious to the British Government. 
A hint was thrown out, by way of intimidation, 



BENJAMIN FUANKLIN. 141 

that he would be removed from his office of Deputy 
Postmaster General in America. As no remissness 
of duty could be charged, the removal, if made 
must be upon purely political grounds. He con- 
tinued his labours without abatement, in the defence 
of the rights of his country, and refused to obHge 
his enemies by resigning the Post Office, though 
plentifully abused to induce him to do so. 

Another mode of annoyance was hit upon. Lord 
Hillsborough, then American Secretary, refused to 
recognise him as agent for Massachusetts, protest- 
ing that no agent should for the future be attended 
to, except such as had been appointed by a regular 
Act of the Assembly, signed by the Governor. 
Franklin explained that it was by a vote, and not 
by an Act that agents were appointed, and that they 
represented the people, not the Governor. Lord 
Hillsborough refused to look at his papers, and be- 
haved through the whole conference in a most un- 
courteous manner. Franklin at the close of the 
interview, said he believed that it was of little con- 
sequence whether he was acknowledged or not ; for, 
as affairs were now administered, an aiient could be 
of little use to any of the colonies. Lord Hills- 
borough procured the passage by the Board of 
Trade, of a resolution embodying his strange views* 



142 LIFE OP 

and while he remained in ofRcc, the agents were 
compelled to prosecute their business by written ap- 
plications, and indirect influence with the members. 

The Americans adhering, with wonderful and 
patriotic unanimity to their non-importation agree- 
ments, and trade between the colonies and the 
mother country continuing more and more to decline, 
the ministry, in 1770, procured an Act repealing the 
duties imposed on all articles imported into the 
colonies, except tea. But as this measure was taken 
purely and entirely as a commercial one, and as the 
article tea was reserved, only to assert the right to 
tax, which the colonists denied, the Act increased 
instead of diminished the excitement in America. 
People felt insulted, that their patriotism should be 
supposed to be measured by tlicir pockets, and re- 
newed their non-importation agreements with more 
determination than ever. 

Little was done after this, for a year or two, in 
the English Parliament, relative to American affairs ; 
and Franklin took the opportunity to make excur- 
sions to different parts of England, and to Wales, 
Ireland, and Scotland, for the benefit of his health, 
which had been injured by his intense application to 
business. Everywhere, his reputation and character 
found him friends, and even those who bitterly op- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 143 

posed him as statesmen and politicians, pressed 
their hospitalities upon him. Lord Hillsborough, 
who had spoken of him in London, in very angry- 
terms, as a " republican, and a factious, mischievous 
fellow," meeting him in Dublin, pressed him to call 
at his residence on his journey northward, in such 
terms as Franklin could not refuse without rudeness ; 
particularly as his journey would carry him before 
his lordship's door. Lord Hillsborough detained 
the "factious fellow" four days, overwhelming him 
with politeness. 

While he was thus received with courtesy by 
both parties, the friends of America were of course 
most sincere in their kindness, and it was with them 
that he passed his happiest hours. His old philo- 
sophical friends and correspondents renewed their 
hospitalities ; and everything so ministered to his 
comfort, that he wrote to his wife : " I have so 
many good, kind friends here, that I could spend 
the remainder of my life among them with great 
pleasure, if it were not for my American connec- 
tions, and the indelible affection I retain for that 
dear country, from which I have so long been in a 
state of exile." Amons: these " dear friends" we 
may particularly mention Dr. Shipley, the Bishop 
of St. A saph's. He was called by Franklin " the 



144 LIFE OF 

good Bishop," and was a man beloved for his vir- 
tues, and highly respected for his abilities, attain- 
ments, and steady adherence to the principles of 
political and civil liberty. He opposed, from the 
beginning, the course pursued by the British govern- 
ment in the American controversy, not only by his 
vote and influence in the House of Lords, but by 
his pen. His writings, particularly "The Speech 
intended to be Spoken," arc admired as models of 
style and argument, and are remarkable for their 
ingenuousness and independence. With the Bishop 
and his family, the friendship of Franklin was kept 
up by a correspondence until his death. 

During his residence in England at this time, Dr. 
Franklin was complimented, at the request of the 
King of Denmark, by being included among the 
sixteen invited guests to a public dinner to that 
monarch in London, a circumstance referred to in a 
previous chapter. This was a compliment to the 
philosopher and the man, in spite of his political 
principles, which cannot be supposed to have re- 
commended him very highly to crowned heads. 

Franklin was engaged as one of a committee of 
the Royal Society, which, under direction of the 
British Government, examined the Magazines at 
Purfleet, to devise some method of protecting them 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 145 

from lightning. Franklin advised pointed conductors, 
to which all the members of the committee acceded 
except one. He vigorously defended the preferable- 
ness of blunt conductors, and gained many adherents. 
Franklin declined to answer his publications, as he 
had nothing to add to what he had already said. 
The pointed conductors were continued at Purfleet, 
but the conductors on the palace were changed from 
sharp to blunt. In allusion to this subject, Franklin 
writes to a friend: "The King's changing his 
pointed conductors for hlunt ones is a matter of 
small importance to me. If I had a wish about it, 
it would be, that he had rejected them altogether, 
as ineffectual. For it is only since he thought him- 
self and his family safe from the thunder of Heaven, 
that he has dared to use his own thunder in destroy- 
ing his innocent subjects." The following witty 
epigram appeared during the sharp and blunt con- 
troversy : 

" While you, great George, for safety hunt, 
And sharp conductors change for blunt, 

The empire's out of joint; 
Franklin a wiser course pursues, 
And all your thunder fearless views, 

By keeping to the pointy 

K 



146 LIFE OF 

One of the most gratifying compliments which 
FrankHn received, was from the Irish Parhament. 
He waited in Dubhn until the opening of the session 
of that body, for the purpose of meeting its prin- 
cipal patriots. 

" I found them," he writes, " disposed to be friends 
of America, in which I endeavoured to confirm 
them, with the expectation that our growing weight 
might in time be thrown into their scale, and, by 
joining our interests with theirs, a more equitable 
treatment from this nation might be obtained for 
them as well as for us. There are many brave 
spirits among them. The gentry are a very sen- 
sible, polite, and friendly people. Their Parhament 
makes a most respectable figure, with a number of 
very good speakers in both parties, and able men 
of business. And I must not omit acquainting you, 
that it beinw a standins: rule to admit members of 
the English Parliament to sit (though they do not 
vote) in the House among the members, while others 
are only admitted into the gallery, my fellows-travel- 
ler, being an English member, was accordingly ad- 
mitted as such. But I supposed I must go to the 
gallery, when the Speaker stood up, and acquainted 
the House, that he understood there was in town an 
American gentleman of (as he was pleased to say) 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 147 

distinguished character and merit, a member or 
delegate of some of the Parliaments of that country, 
who was desirous of being present at the debates 
of the House ; that there was a rule of the House 
for admitting members of English Parliaments, and 
that he supposed the House would consider the 
American Assemblies as English Parliaments ; but, 
as this was the first instance, he had chosen not to 
give any order in it without receiving their direc- 
tions. On the question, the House gave a loud, 
unanimous Ay; when two members came to me 
without the bar, led me in between them, and placed 
me honourably and commodiously." 



148 



LIFE OP 



CHAPTER XI. 



The Tea Party in Boston — The Boston Resolutions — " Rules," and 
" Edict" — The Hutchinson Letters — Duel in consequence — Frank- 
lin's Declaration — Appears before the Privy Council — Franklin 
abused, and the Massachusetts Petition dismissed — Franklin ejected 
from the Post Office — Abortive Attempts to ruin him — Death of Mrs. 
Franklin — Petition of Congress — Franklin abused in Parliament by 
Lord Sandwich, and eloquently defended by Lord Chatham — Con- 
sulted by the Ministry — Franklin's Patriotism. 

F all insults which can be offered to 
.1 magnanimous and patriotic people, 
the measurino^ of their motives in re- 
sisting tyranny, by money, is among 
the most flagrant. In such a light, 
as we have already remarked, did the Ame- 
ricans look upon the repeal of the customs' 
bill in 1770, excepting the single article of 
tea ; by which the English government fan- 
cied the Americans, betrayed by its insignificance, 
would be induced to forego their principles, and 
relax their opposition, in the hope of a lucrative 
trade, in the importation and consumption of the 
free articles. But the insult was not completed, 
until, in 1773, the attempt was actually made to buy 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 149 

the colonists outright, and tempt them for a cup of 
tea, to sell their birthright as freemen. An Act was 
passed, allowing the East India Company a draw- 
back on the teas exported to America : that is to 
say, the Company were paid back the duties which 
teas had paid on entering England, when those teas 
were sent from England to America. And as the 
duties paid in England were much greater than 
those which the Government wished to collect in 
America, it follows that the x\mericans could have 
paid the tax, and still have had their tea at a less 
price than it cost them before the tax or customs' 
bill was passed. Thus the remonstrants were actu- 
ally offered a premium to give up their resistance. 
How this estimate of the character of the American 
people was received by them, our intelligent readers 
do not require to be informed. Large shipments 
were made, in the belief of the corruptibility of the 
Americans. In Philadelphia and New York, the 
tea was not permitted to be landed ; in Charleston 
it was put in warehouses on shore, but not suffered 
to be offered for sale ; and in Boston it was emptied 
into the dock. 

While these events were in progress in America, 
Franklin was busily at work in England, endeavour- 
ing, but ineffectually, to produce a change of the 



150 LIFE OF 

measures of ministers. The original purpose for 
■which he came over, to procure a change in the 
manner in which Pennsylvania was governed, re- 
ceived his early attention, and seemed many times 
to be in successful progress. But the more important 
matters, affecting the peace of all the colonies, 
which afterward arose, engrossed the attention of 
Government; and as these difficulties yearly in- 
creased, the Pennsylvania matter was further de- 
ferred, until the breaking out of the war postponed 
it indefinitely. 

Franklin was upon the point of coming home in 
1762. He was then in his 67th year, and felt the 
weight of increasing infirmities. But his friends 
urged him to wait, and the arrival of important 
business from the American Assemblies, and the 
resignation of Lord Hillsborough, after which the 
Colonial Agents were put on their former and more 
honourable footing, determined him to stay. • His 
first business with Lord Dartmouth, the new Secre- 
tary for Colonial Affairs, was the presentation of a 
petition to the King, from the Legislature of Mas- 
sachusetts. The Governor of that Province, in 
pursuance of an Act of Parliament which we have 
already noticed, had received his salary from the 
Crown. The Legislature of Massachusetts saw in 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 151 

this dangerous innovation the ruin of their freedom, 
should it grow to a practice, and petitioned for re- 
dress. At the persuasion of Lord Dartmouth, Dr. 
Frankhn consented that the presentation of the 
petition should be delayed. 

Meanwhile, matters were proceeding with still 
greater warmth in America. News was received 
there, that the judges as well as the Governor were 
to receive their salaries from England; and the 
inhabitants of Boston immediately assembled, and 
passed resolutions of remonstrance against the mea- 
sure, as tending to complete the system of bondage 
which had been preparing for the colonies ever since 
the passage of the Stamp Act. When these reso- 
lutions came into Dr. Franklin's hands, he caused 
them to be republished in London. Ever mindful 
of the honour and interest of his country, he pre- 
faced the resolutions with a description of the con- 
dition of the colonies, and an explanation of the 
nature and reason of their complaints. He repre- 
sented the passage of these resolutions, and other 
transactions, as but the natural and necessary con- 
sequences of the unwise policy of the Government. 
In this same year also, 1773, he published two ad- 
mirable pieces, entitled, " Rules for Reducing a 
Great Empire to a Small One," and "An Edict ot 



152 LIFE OF 

the Kin^ of Prussia." The Rides, under different 
heads, classify all the mischievous measures of the 
ministry, as directions by which any government 
can reduce the limits of its empire. The efficacy 
of these " Rules" was sufficiently proved, in the 
separation of the colonies from Great Britain. The 
Edict, however, is the best and neatest of these 
ironical pieces. The preamble alleges, that the 
early settlement of New England was made by 
Germans, and that as descendants of Saxon ances- 
tors. Englishmen are bound to obey the laws of the 
kingdom, and submit to be taxed for the revenues 
of the King of Prussia ; and the Edict claims of 
England, in favour of Prussia, the same submission 
and obedience that Parliament claimed of Ameri- 
cans. Both performances were so witty and good 
humoured, as to draw readers who knew or cared 
little about the matters in dispute between England 
and the colonies. Lord Mansfield said of the Edict, 
that " it was very able and very artful indeed, and 
would do mischief, by giving in England a bad im- 
pression of the measures of Government, and mis- 
chief in the colonies, by encouraging them in their 
contumacy." 

Shortly after the passage of the Boston resolu- 
tions, the Massachusetts Legislature met, and drew 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 153 

up another petition to the King, similar in tenor to 
the former. Dr. Franklin waited upon Lord Dart- 
mouth with it, and requested its presentation, toge- 
ther with the other which had been held in suspense. 
Lord Dartmouth promised to comply ; but the inte- 
rest attending these petitions was soon overshadowed 
by a third, praying his Majesty to remove from office 
Gov. Hutchinson, and Lieut. Gov. Oliver, who, by 
their conduct, had rendered themselves obnoxious 
to the people, and had entirely lost their confidence. 
This petition had its origin as follows : In 1772, 
Dr. Franklin procured and sent to his correspondents 
in Massachusetts, certain original letters, written by 
Gov. Hutchinson, Lieut. Gov. Oliver, and others, to 
Mr. Thomas Whately, a member of Parliament, 
and at one time a Ministerial Secretary. These 
letters ascribed the discontents and commotions in 
the Province, to a factious spirit among the people, 
stirred up by a few intriguing leaders ; and intimated 
that this spirit would be subdued, and submission to 
the Acts of Parliament would be compelled, by the 
presence of a military force, and perseverance in 
the coercive measures already commenced. When 
the letters were first produced before the Massachu- 
setts Legislature, that body voted, by a majority of 
one hundred and one to five, that the design and 



154 LIFE OP 

tendency of them were to subvert the constitution, 
and introduce arbitrary power. They were then 
referred to a committee, who reported a series of 
resolutions in the spirit of the above vote, which, 
with the petition to the King, already mentioned, 
passed by a large majority. 

While the petition was still in the hands of Lord 
Dartmouth, Hutchinson's letters were published in 
Boston, copies reached London, great excitement 
ensued in the political circles, and much curiosity 
as to how the letters went to America. Mr. Tho- 
mas Whately was dead, and his papers having gone 
into the hands of his brother, Mr. William Whately, 
he was censured for having permitted them to be 
taken away. Mr. Whately's suspicions fell upon 
Mr. John Temple, who had examined the papers by 
his permission, and a duel took place between 
Temple and Whately, in which the latter was 
wounded. Dr. Franklin, who knew nothing of the 
duel until after it had taken place, now interfered, 
and assumed in a public declaration the whole re- 
sponsibility of the act ; and declared, furthermore, 
that the letters were not among Mr. Thomas 
Whately's papers at the time that those papers 
passed into the hands of his brother. Mr. William 
Whately instantly commenced a chancery suit 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 155 

against Dr. Franklin, filing a bill of declarations, 
all of which Dr. Franklin denied on oath. He 
affirmed at the same time, in reference to the letters, 
that when they w^ere given to him they had no ad- 
dress upon them (having been probably sent in 
envelopes), and that he had previously no knowledge 
of their existence. 

On the 11th of January, 1774, Dr. Franklin ap^ 
peared before the Privy Council to defend the peti- 
tion. Dr. Franklin was most violently abused by 
the Crown Solicitor in reference to the letters, but 
declined to answer these personal attacks, under 
advice of his counsel, as that matter was already 
before the Chancery. After the examination, the 
Lords of the Privy Council reported " that the 
petition was founded uj)on resolutions, formed upon 
false and erro.neous allegations, and that the same 
was groundless, vexatious, and scandalous, and cal- 
culated only for the seditious purpose of keeping up 
a spirit of clamour and discontent in the provinces." 
The King approved the report, and dismissed the 
petition ; and this supercilious treatment of the well 
grounded complaints of an oppressed people, added 
another to the irritatinfj causes Avhich hastened the 
dismemberment of the British empire. 

A grand purpose of the ministers was, to crush 



156 LIFE OF 

the "factious fellow," Franklin. It was for this 
end that they gave the hearing so strange a turn, 
and made the subject of the petition a secondary 
matter in their report, to the abuse of the agent of 
the petitioners. To this day, the manner in which 
he obtained the letters has never transpired ; pro- 
bably because he could not vindicate himself without 
bringing others into difficulty. The integrity of his 
character, made his simple allegation that he came 
by the letters honourably, sufficient for his friends 
and the friends of America. With his enemies, no 
proof would have been acknowledged as sufficient 
exculpation. To complete his ruin, if possible, this 
juncture was improved, as the long waited for time 
in which to make his removal from the Post Office 
a mark of disgrace, and he was instantly superseded 
from the office of Postmaster General in the colonies ; 
as if the result of the Hutchinson affair had shown 
him to be unworthy of confidence. Conscious of 
having done only what his duty required, he held 
his peace, willing to let events work out his vindica- 
tion ; and, m the end, he gained new credit and 
character from the abortive attempts of his enemies, 
and was entrusted with higher confidence than 
before, both in England and America. And as to 
his expulsion from the Post Office, that removed the 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 157 

only objection which existed against him — to wit, 
the holdini; of an office under a government so 
tyrannical ; and Americans who had respected him 
before, now loved him with a vehemence of attach- 
ment; particularly when his manly conduct was 
understood in America, and the fact transpired that 
he kept aloof from ministers, attended no more of 
their levees, and sought no further intercourse with 
them. 

Just as Dr. Franklin was anticipating a return to 
his country, and a happy meeting with his family, 
from whom he had been ten years separated, the 
intelligence reached him of the death of his wife. 
They had been married forty-four years, and the 
union was one of as perfect happiness as any earthly 
ties can confer. Their correspondence during his 
long absences, breathes the most affectionate spirit 
upon both sides ; and she was a woman every way 
worthy of his confidence and love. She died of 
paralysis, on the 19th of December, 1774, and was 
buried in Christ Church cemetery, at the corner of 
Arch and Fifth Streets, Philadelphia. 

The unabated confidence of Franklin's friends in 
America, was shown during the winter of 1774, in 
his reception of the petition of the first Continental 
Congress to the King. His Majesty laid it before 



158 LIFE OF 

Parliament, and that body, in pursuance of the sui- 
cidal course upon which the British Government 
had determined, rejected it by an overwhelming 
majority, after a heated debate, during which the 
ministerial party spoke with contempt of America 
and her grievances, and expressed the determination 
to reduce the colonists to obedience at all hazards, 
and by force of arms if it were necessary. Arms 
were necessary, but the reduction to obedience did 
not follow. 

During this year a most flattering compliment 
was paid FrankHn, by Lord Chatham, and other 
members of the opposition — gentlemen, whose libe- 
rality and philanthropy laboured in vain for the 
arrest of the insane measures of the ministry, and 
whose political sagacity discerned the inevitable 
issue of the course of the government. These 
gentlemen held repeated consultations with Franklin, 
while maturing their plan for the pacification of the 
colonies. He was present by Lord Stanhope's in- 
vitation, and w^as introduced by Lord Chatham into 
the House of Lords, on the 20th of January, 1775, 
the day on which Chatham made his motion for the 
withdrawal of the royal troops from Boston, a 
motion which was lost by a large majority. He 
was present also, introduced by Lord Stanhope, on 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 159 

the 1st of February, when Lord Chatham brought 
forward his " Plan," in the shape of a bill, and de- 
fended it with all his powers of eloquence and argu- 
ment. It was rejected, two to one. In the course 
of the debate, Lord Sandwich was furiously abusive 
and passionate. He could not believe, he said, that 
the bill was the production of a British peer. It 
seemed much more like the work of some American. 
"And," said he, turning towards Dr. Franklin, who 
was leaning on the bar, "I fancy I have in my eye 
the person who drew it up, one of the bitterest and 
most mischievous enemies this country has ever 
known !" 

In reply to this illiberal and uncourteous insinua- 
tion. Lord Chatham declared that " the bill was en- 
tirely his own; a declaration he thought himself the 
more obliged to make, as many of their Lordships 
appeared to have so mean an opinion of it; for, if 
it were so weak or so bad a thing, it was proper in 
him to take care that no other person should un- 
justly share in the censure it deserved. That it had 
heretofore been reckoned his vice, not to be apt to 
take advice ; but he made no scruple to declare, 
that, if he were the first minister of this country, 
and had the care of settling this momentous business, 
he should not be ashamed of publicly calling to his 



160 LIFE OF 

assistance, a person so perfectly acquainted with 
the whole of American affairs as the gentleman 
alluded to, and so injuriously reflected on ; one, 
he was pleased to say, whom all Europe held in 
high estimation for his knowledge and wisdom, and 
ranked with our Boyles and Newtons ; who was an 
honour, not to the English nation only, but to human 
nature !" 

After this, Franklin was informally consulted by 
agents of the British ministry. Such was his repu- 
tation for sagacity, and such his knowledge of the 
character of his countrymen, and so well and justly 
was he supposed to represent them, that it was 
expected he would express the sentiments of the 
American people on all essential points. Notwith- 
standing his long absence from home, and his resi- 
dence in England, out of the reach of all immediate 
popular excitement, it has been well remarked, that 
no American could have placed the demands of his 
countrymen on a broader foundation, supported 
them with a more ardent zeal, or insisted on them 
with a more determined resolution. 

The matter was at length abandoned as hopeless. 
In speaking of one of the conferences, Dr. Franklin 
says : " I shortened it by observing that, while the 
Parliament claimed and exercised a power of altering 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 161 

our constitutions at pleasure, there could be no 
agreement ; for we were rendered unsafe in every 
privilege we had a right to, and were secure in 
nothing. And, it being hinted how necessary an 
agreement was for America, since it was so easy 
for Britain to burn all our seaport towns, I grew 
warm ; said that the chief part of my little property 
consisted of houses in those towns; that they might 
make bonfires of them whenever they pleased ; that 
the fear of losing them would never alter my reso- 
lution to resist to the last that claim of Parliament ; 
and that it behoved this country to take care v/hat 
mischief it did us ; for that, sooner or later, it 
would certainly be obliged to make good all dam- 
ages with interest !" 



L 



162 LIFE OP 



CHAPTER XII. 

Franklin's Return to America — Chosen a Member of Congress, and 
appointed to other arduous Duties — Goes to Canada as Commissioner 
from Congress — The Declaration of Independence — Jefferson's Draft 
— Anecdote of the Hatter's Sign — Hanging together — Letters to Mr. 
vStrahan — Appointed a Commissioner to reside in France, and em- 
barks for that Country — Loan to Congress — Remarks. 

''>^^^^mmmmfi ^^^^^ been particular with the his- 
tory of FrankHn's residence in Eng- 
land, because it includes a relation- 
of his valuable services to his 
country, with which the reader is 
less likely to be well acquainted than with 
ff'iF^ other portions of his life. It is a part neces- 
sary and important to be understood also, as 
developing the causes of the discontent of 
the colonies, and the principles in defence of which 
they arose in arms. Popular histories and biogra- 
phers generally dwell more upon the striking and 
glorious events which followed the affairs of Lexing- 
ton and Bunker Hill, than upon the silent, but, in 
history, no less important occurrences which pre- 
ceded the resort to the last appeal. The attentive 




r 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 163 

reader has not failed to observe how important was 
the part which Franklin played at this trying period, 
and he cannot but admire the patriotism which in- 
duced our illustrious countryman to cling to the 
fortunes of the then despised land of his birth, 
when his eminent talents would have secured him 
preferment, ease, and literary fame in Europe, had 
he but consented to be a traitor, under the then 
flattering title of a loyalist. 

He returned to America in 1775, arrivinjr at 
Philadelphia on the 5th of May, and on the 6th he 
was unanimously chosen by the Assembly a delegate 
to the second Continental Congress, which met in 
Philadelphia on the 10th of the same month. He 
was now in his 70th year ; but a life of exemplary 
temperance had left his health and faculties unim- 
paired, and he entered with the zeal and energy of 
youth into the excitement of the day. The affair 
of Lexington had just occurred, and, in the language 
of Franklin in a letter written at this period, " all 
America was exasperated, and more firmly united 
than ever." 

Franklin was also appointed by the Assembly a 
member of the Committee of Safety, in whose ardu- 
ous duties he participated ; the sessions of that 
committee and of Congress occupying his time 



164 LIFE OF 

almost daily, from six in the morning until four in 
the afternoon. In spite of his occupation, he found 
time to draft and offer to Congress a plan of con- 
federation for the colonies, which resembled very 
nearly our present Federal Constitution. The Post 
Office establishment having been broken up by the 
public confusion, Congress made provision for its 
re-establishment, and appointed Dr. Franklin Post- 
master General. He was appointed a member of 
the Secret Committee, for procuring supplies and 
munitions of war for the army ; and was also de- 
puted in the autumn one of a commission, to proceed 
to Cambridge, and confer with Gen. Washington 
upon the most efficient mode of organizing the 
army. And upon his return from this mission, the 
old patriot found that he had been elected by his 
fellow-citizens of Philadelphia a delegate to the 
State Assembly, from which the Proprietary interest 
had expelled him before his mission to England. 
Verily, the opinion must have continued in Philadel- 
phia, that " nothing could be done without Franklin." 
He was now a member of three important bodies 
which held daily meetings ; Congress, the Assembly, 
and the Committee of Safety. He gave the sessions 
of the first named body the preference, when the 
business of the three conflicted. Nor was he an 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 165 

inactive member. He entered heartily into all im- 
portant business, and was always placed on such 
committees as required most experience and saga- 
city. Beside the committee which had in charge 
the procuring of supplies, he was on another secret 
committee, whose duty it was to correspond with 
the friends of America in Europe, and sound the 
views and intentions of statesmen and governments 
there. In March, 1776, he was deputed one of a 
commission to go to Canada, regulate the operations 
of the patriot army in that Province, and assist the 
Canadians in forming a civil government. This 
mission was unsuccessful, the desire of the Cana- 
dians for a change of government being by no means 
so general as had been supposed, and a want of 
union among them precluding any concert for public 
purposes. Dr. Franklin reached Philadelphia on 
his return, in June, with his health much impaired 
by the hardships of the journey. He now gave his 
undivided attention to his duties in Congress, having 
declined his election as representative in the Assem- 
bly, and resigned his appointment as a member of 
the Committee of Safety. 

The subject of independence of the mother 
country had now been for some time before the 
nation, by newspaper essays, pamphlets, popular 



166 LIFE OP 

discussion in public meetings, and private and fire- 
side conversations. Franklin was, from the first, 
one of the advocates of early action, and was ap- 
pointed, with Jefferson, John Adams, Sherman, and 
Livingston, upon the committee which drafted the 
famous instrument. The paper was from the pen 
of Jefferson, and received in committee only a few 
verbal alterations, suggested by Franklin and Adams. 
Congress debated upon it three days, and in that 
time made nearly a hundred verbal and other altera- 
tions, and struck out two entire clauses. The 
curious reader who desires to compare the Declara- 
tion as reported, with the paper as adopted, will find 
the original draft, as preserved by Jefferson, printed 
in a parallel column with the Declaration, in the 
notes to the first volume of Marshall's Life of 
Washino;ton. 

These alterations could not, of course, be made, 
without a great deal of debate, and, in the course 
of it, many strong expressions of censure were 
made upon portions of Mr. Jefferson's draft. Of 
course the author of the paper was disturbed and 
annoyed. Dr. Franklin was sitting near him, and, 
for his consolation, related an anedote which has 
been very frequently quoted. Mr. Jefferson, giving 
an account of the debate, says : 




FRANKLIN SI&NING THE DECLARATION. 



i 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 167 

"I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, who perceived 
that I was not insensible to these mutilations. ' I 
have made it a rule,' said he, ' whenever in my 
power, to avoid becoming the draftsman of papers 
to be reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson 
from an incident, which I will relate to you. When 
I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, 
an apprentice hatter, having served out his time, 
was about to open shop for himself. His first con- 
cern was to have a handsome sign-board, with a 
proper inscription. He composed it in these words, 
John Thompson,, Hatter, makes and sells Hats for 
ready Money,, with a figure of a hat subjoined. But 
he thought he would submit it to his friends for 
their amendments. The first he showed it to, 
thought the word hatter tautologous, because fol- 
lowed by the words makes hats, which showed he 
was a hatter. It was struck out. The next ob- 
served that the word makes might as well be omitted, 
because his customers would not care who made 
the hats ; if good and to their mind, they would 
buy, by whomsoever made. He struck it out. A 
third said he thought the words for ready money 
were useless, as it was not the custom of the place 
to sell on credit. Every one who purchased ex- 



168 LIFE OP 

pected to pay. They were parted with; and the 
inscription now stood, ' John Thompson sells hats.' 
' Sells hats !' says his next friend ; ' why nobody will 
expect you to give them away. What then is the 
use of that word ?' It was stricken out, and hats 
followed, the rather, as there was one painted on 
the board. So his inscription was reduced ultimately 
to John Thompson, with the figure of a hat sub- 
joined. " 

We have already noticed Dr. Franklin's aptness 
at repartee, and in this connection an instance of it 
occurred, which is memorable, as showing the ready 
humour of our philosopher in his 71st year. "We 
must be unanimous," said Hancock, " there must be 
no pulling different ways; we must all hang to- 
gether." " Yes," said Franklin, " we must, indeed, 
all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all 
hang separately." 

There is a letter of his, also, written in 1775, 
which is remarkable, no less for its strong American 
and patriotic feeling, and its sacrifice of private 
friendships to the public cause, than for the epi- 
grammatic neatness of its conclusion. It was 
addressed to his old friend, Mr. Strahan, and is as 
follows : 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 169 

^^Philada., July bth, 1775. 
"Mr. Strahan: — 
" You are a Member of Parliament, and one of 
that majority which has doomed my country to 
destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, 
and murder our people. Look upon your hands ! 
They are stained with the blood of your relations ! 
You and I were long friends; you are now ray 
enemy, and I am 

" Yours, 

" B. Franklin." 

Having given one letter from Franklin to his 
friend, Mr. Strahan, we subjoin the close of another, 
written nine years afterward, when the struggle had 
closed triumphantly for the colonies. It was in 
answer to a letter received from Mr. Strahan. 
After talking upon general political principles, 
Franklin thus reviews the principal events of the, 
then, late war: 

" Yankee was understood to be a sort of Yahoo, 
and the Parliament did not think the petitions of 
such creatures were fit to be received and read in 
so wise an assembly. What was the consequence 
of this monstrous pride and insolence ? You first 



170 LIFE OP 

sent small armies to subdue us, believing them more 
than sufficient, but soon found yourselves obliged to ■ 
send greater; these, whenever they ventured to 
penetrate our country beyond the protection of their 
ships, were either repulsed and obliged to scamper 
out, or were surrounded, beaten, and taken prisoners. 
An American planter, who had never seen Europe, 
was chosen by us to command our troops, and con- 
tinued during the whole war. This man sent home 
to you, one after another, five of your best generals, 
baffled, their heads bare of laurels, disgraced even 
in the opinion of their employers. Your contempt 
of our understandings, in comparison with your 
own, appeared to be much better founded than that 
of our courage, if we may judge by this circum- 
stance, that in whatever court of Europe a Yankee 
negotiator appeared, the wise British minister was 
routed, put in a passion, picked a quarrel with your 
friends, and was sent home with a flea in his ear. 
But, after all, my dear friend, do not imagine that 
I am vain enough to ascribe our success to any 
superiority in any of those points. I am too well 
acquainted with all the springs and levers of our 
machine, not to see that our human means were 
unequal to our undertaking, and that, if it had not 
been for the justice of our cause, and the conse- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 171 

quent interposition of Providence, in which we had 
faith, we must have been ruined. If I had ever 
before been an Atheist, I should now have been 
convinced of the being and government of a Deity ! 
It is he that abases the proud and favours the 
humble. May we never forget his goodness to us, 
and may our future conduct manifest our gratitude ! 
" But let us leave these serious reflections, and 
converse with our usual pleasantry. I remember 
your observing once to me, as we sat together in 
the House of Commons, that no two journeymen 
printers within your knowledge had met with such 
success in the world as ourselves. You were then 
at the head of your profession, and soon afterward 
became member of Parliament. I was an agent for 
a few provinces, and now act for them all. But we 
have risen by different modes. I, as a republican 
printer, always liked a form well planed dovm ; being 
averse to those overbearing letters that hold their 
heads so high as to hinder their neighbours from 
appearing. You, as a monarchist, chose to work 
upon crown paper, and found it profitable ; while I 
worked upon pro patria (often indeed, called fools- 
cap) with no less advantage. Both our heaps hold 
out very well, and we seem likely to make a pretty 



172 LIFE OF 

good day''s work of it. With regard to public affairs 
(to continue in the same style), it seems to me that 
your compositors in your chapel do not cast off their 
copy well, nor perfectly understand imposing: their 
forms^ too, are continually pestered by the outs and 
doubles that are not easy to be corrected. And I 
think they were wrong in laying aside some faces, 
and particularly certain headpieces^ that would have 
been both useful and ornamental. But, courage ! 
The business may still flourish with good manage- 
ment, and the master become as rich as any of the 
company. * * 

" I am ever, my dear friend, yours most affection- 
ately, B. Franklin." 

The letter we have just given, anticipates the 
date of our narrative several years, but is presented 
here, both as offering a strong contrast to the letter 
preceding, and as giving in Dr. Franklin's peculiar 
style, a brief summary of the history of the Revolu- 
tion. The remainder of the public life of Frankhn 
is connected with events so well known, that it will 
not be necessary to follow it with the minuteness 
with which we traced his life previous to the Revo 
lution. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 173 

In 1776, the State of Pennsylvania again claimed 
the services of Franklin. He was President of the 
Convention which framed the first Constitution, and 
divided his time between the sessions of that body 
and those of Congress. In September of the same 
year, he was appointed, with John Adams and Ed- 
ward Rutledge, to meet Lord Howe, and hear what 
propositions his lordship had to offer " in his private 
capacity." His public offers o^ pardon, on condition 
of submission, had been virtually rejected by the 
American people, and published by order of Con- 
gress, " in order," as the resolve expressed it, " that 
the few who still remained suspended by a hope, 
founded either in the justice or moderation of their 
late king [not dead, be it noted, but denied], may 
now at length be convinced, that the valour alone 
of their country is to save its liberties." The failure 
of any result from this interview, is of course known 
to our readers. No pardon could be received where 
no crime was acknowledged ; and no submission 
could be thought of by those who had pledged their 
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honour to the 
support of the Declaration of Independence. 

In October, 1776, Congress gave another pi oof 
of the wisdom which guided their counsels, in the 



174 L I F E O F 

appointment of Dr. Franklin at the head of a com- 
mission to transact the business of the United States 
at the Court of France. The other members, Silas 
Deane and Arthur Lee, were already in Europe. 
Dr. Frankhn embarked for France in the sloop of 
war Reprisal, Captain Wickes, on the 27th of 
October, taking with him his two grandsons, William 
Temple Franklin, and Benjamin Franklin Bache. 
Before leaving Philadelphia he raised all the money 
he could command, between three and four thousand 
pounds, and placed it, as a loan, at the disposal of 
Congress. 

This was indeed a signal mark of his patriotism, 
and of his confidence in the success of the stand 
taken by his countrymen. To estimate it fully, it 
must be remembered that Franklin, from his long 
residence abroad, and his habits of acute observa- 
tion, was better aware than any man living, of the 
power of England, and the fixed determination of 
the government of that country, to bring all its force 
to bear upon the object to which it stood committed. 
Another evidence of courage and patriotism was, 
his embarking upon so dangerous a mission. In 
his 71st year, he might reasonably have pleaded 
age and infirmity as reasons for remaining at home. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. liD 

A sea voyage was not, in 1776, the every day affair 
that it now is ; and to the ordinary dangers and 
inconveniences of the passage, were to be added 
the risk of capture, and the ignominious treatment 
which the " factious fellow," Franklin, would have 
received, had he fallen into the power of the enemy 
at this early period of the " rebellion," as it was as 
yet, universally termed. 



176 LIFE OP 



CHAPTER XIII. 

State of Feeling in France — Reception of Franklin in that Country—- 
Popular Respect — His plain Habits — He forms new Friendships — 
His extensive Correspondence — Anecdotes — Franklin recommends 
Lafayette — Secret Advances to Franklin from England — The Draper's 
Remnant — Duties of the Commissioners — Difficulties in the per- 
formance — Lord Stormont's Insolence — Franklin's Philanthropy — 
Treaties with France — Public Recognition of the American Com- 
missioners — Popular Enthusiasm. 

VERY reader of history is familiar 
with the fact, that England and 
France were for centuries regarded 
as " natural enemies;" a consequence 
of kingcraft, and of regarding coun- 
tries as ro3'al estates, and the heritage of 
princes, rather than as the property of the 
people. The disputes of these royal heirs, 
formerly tested at the expense of the blood, 
and at the sacrifice of the happiness of the subject, 
are now viewed in a more common sense light, 
thanks to the rise of America as a nation ! As one 
great and happy consequence of this change, wars 
are becoming more and more rare; and will one 
day, we trust, and that day not far distant, be classed 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 177 

with Other obsolete barbarisms. At the date of the 
commencement of the Revolutionary War in this 
country, France was uneasy under the humiliating 
terms which the last treaty between Great Britain 
and France had imposed upon the latter power. 
This circumstance, and the " natural enmity" already 
referred to, would have disposed France to receive 
with favour any messenger from the colonies, whose 
dismemberment from the mother country promised 
to cripple a haughty and imperious rival. 

But when the unexpected arrival of Franklin 
was announced, France was awake with enthusiasm, 
and the news of his appearance at Paris circulated 
instantly throughout Europe. No other man could 
have excited the sensation. As a philosopher, his 
brilliant discoveries had made his name everywhere 
respected. It was more than respected, it was 
familiar and beloved ; for Poor Richard, the practi- 
cal and humane philosopher of every-day life, had 
shrined the name of Franklin, as a household word, 
in almost every nation of Europe. As a politician 
and patriot, the recoil of the abuse heaped upon 
him in England, by Parliament and the Ministry, 
had given him a higher position than the longest 
and proudest pedigree could have conferred. 

The ardent temperament of the French people 

M 



178 LIFE OF 

saw in him, not merely the representative but the 
personification of the new American republic. His 
portrait, and medaUions bearing his venerable fea- 
tures, were everywhere displayed. Snuff-boxes, 
rings, and every other description of token ; busts, 
prints, and pictures, in the production of which the 
best artists vied with each other, aided in the en- 
couragement of a respect which amounted almost 
to idolatry. He was said to "join to the demeanour 
of Phocion the spirit of Socrates;" and, to borrow 
the language of Lacretelle, " men imagined they 
saw in him a sage of antiquity, come back to give 
austere lessons and generous examples to the 
moderns." Courtiers, soldiers, and people, men, 
women, and children, were full of his praises ; and 
those who could obtain admittance to his honoured 
presence dwelt with attention upon his every word, 
and with respect and awe upon his features. Amid 
all the pomp of courts and glitter of fashion, he 
preserved his republican simplicity of manners and 
costume. His dignity and consistency of character 
conferred consequence upon trifles, and elevated 
what would have been regarded as weak aflTectation 
and eccentricity in another, into proud character- 
istics of the sage and republican, when practised by 
Franklin. And here we may make the suggestion, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 179 

that his character and standing authorized his de- 
partures from custom. The man made the eccen- 
tricities not merely tolerable but delightful — the 
eccentricities did not make the man. It is the over- 
looking of this distinction which renders imitators 
intolerable. They begin at the wrong end, and, 
copying the mannerisms, and even the follies and 
defects of their great models, betray their insignifi- 
cance but the more palpably ; as the long ears of 
the donkey converted the terrible lion's skin into 
a ridiculous mask. 

The advantages which his situation and character 
conferred for the formation of friendships, were not 
passed unimproved by Dr. Franklin. It was an 
observation of Dr. Johnson's, that unless we desire 
to become isolated as we grow old, we must keep 
our friendships in repair, and fill up the gaps in the 
circle, which death or removal creates, by the forma- 
tion of new acquaintances. Upon this principle 
Dr. Franklin acted, and made in France many de- 
lightful associations, after he had passed the three- 
score years and ten, which form the usual limit of 
man's pilgrimage. Nay, after that advanced period 
of life he acquired the ability of speaking and con- 
versing in French, with which, as a written lan- 
guage, the reader will remember, he had acquainted 



180 LIFE OF 

himself many years before. Some of his most 
amusing humorous writings, such as " The Whistle," 
and the " Dialogue with the Gout," were written at 
this advanced age, marked, as they are, with the 
vivacity and freshness which are usually found in 
early compositions. 

His situation and character exposed him to an 
immense variety of applications for advice, informa- 
tion, and countenance. People purposing to emi- 
grate, addressed him letters of inquiry relative to 
the character of his country, and the opening for 
various pursuits there. In answer to these inquiries 
he wrote and published for distribution a pamphlet 
entitled, " Information to those who would remove 
to America," which was immediately translated into 
German, and perhaps into other languages. This 
act of his recalls an anecdote related of him during 
his residence in Philadelphia. Having occasion to 
alter a building which he occupied, he found the 
M'orkmen annoyed with the questions of passers by, 
and caused to be written and posted up, a full 
description of the purposed improvement, and a 
statement of his views in making it ; a witty expe- 
dient which spared the time of the carpenter. But 
Dr. Franklin was never unwilling to impart informa- 
tion which could be of service. Having ascertained 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 181 

the utility of gypsum, or, as it is usually called, 
plaster of Paris, as a dressing for land, he took an 
ingenious mode of notifying the public of the fact. 
He wrote, in a clover-field near the road, in great 
letters, " This has been plastered ;" and the rich 
green letters raised by this process, palpably showed 
the excellence of the substance as a compost. 

While individuals were seeking his advice, and 
the benefits of his wisdom, those in authority were 
not unmindful of his capacity. The King of France 
appointed him, in 1784, at the head of a commission 
of nine, to examine the claims of Animal Magnetism, 
which was then making a great noise in Paris. The 
report of these commissioners, as our readers are 
probably aware, was adverse to the claims of the 
" science," though it has been revived in our own 
times. Private projectors and discoverers called 
his attention to all sorts of inventions and theories ; 
and he seems to have found leisure to examine many 
of them, as well as to prosecute his own philoso- 
phical writings and studies, and to revise an edition 
of his works which was published in London. 

Among other letters, many were addressed to 
him by the friends and relatives of Europeans who 
had entered the American service, making inquiries 
relative to America and the war. But these bore a 



182 LIFE OF 

small proportion to the number of letters addressed 
to him for advice, or for countenance and recom- 
mendation to Congress or to the Commander-in- 
Chief, in applications for command in the American 
army. The number of such applicants was so 
great, as seriously to embarrass Congress and Gen. 
Washington ; particularly as one of Franklin's col- 
leagues, Mr. Dcane, was induced to make many 
engagements with foreign officers. This circum- 
stance caused Mr. Deane's recall, and he was suc- 
ceeded by John Adams. Franklin answered those 
who applied to him by stating, that he had no au- 
thority to make engagements of this nature ; tliat 
the army was already full, and that no recommenda- 
tion could create vacancies. One officer, however, 
he did recommend without hesitation ; and when 
we have stated that the officer thus endorsed by 
him was Lafayette, we need hardly add that, in 
everything he said in his praise, he was borne out 
by the conduct of the illustrious Frenchman. 

There was still another important matter, which 
engrossed much of Franklin's time. Repeated 
advances were made to him, by emissaries, and by 
letters from England, to bring about a reconciliation 
between the Colonies and Great Britain. That 
many of these overtures had the ministerial sanction 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 183 

is now an admitted fact in history ; and the rest 
came from persons of influence, who would gladly 
have procured, through Franklin, the clue to some 
method by which the difficulty could be arrested, 
and the Provinces saved to the British empire. So 
highly- were his knowledge of his countrymen and 
his influence with them estimated, that the represen- 
tation of Benjamin Franklin would, at any time, 
have oflfered a sufficient basis on which to propose 
terms of reconciliation to Congress. But the firm 
old patriot mentioned only such terms as comported 
with the letter and spirit of the Declaration. To 
these the English Government was not ready to 
assent. One of these agents Franklin reminded of 
the former good advice which he had thrown away 
upon the English ministry, and then added, " I will, 
however, give a little more, but without the least 
expectation that it will be followed ; for none but 
God can, at the same time, give good counsel and 
wisdom to follow it." To another, who wrote to 
him, " Take care of your own safety ; events are 
uncertain, and men are capricious;" Franklin an- 
swered, " I thank you for your kind caution ; but, 
having nearly finished a long life, I set but little 
value upon what remains of it. Like a draper, 
when one chaffers with him for a remnant, I am 



184 LIFE OF 

ready to say, 'As it is only a fag end, I will not 
differ with you about it; take it for what you please.' 
Perhaps the best use such an old fellow can be put 
to, is to make a martyr of him." And when an 
attempt was made to lead him to distrust the French 
Government, by telling him he was surrounded with 
spies, he answered, " Dr. Franklin does not care 
how many spies are placed about him by the Court 
of France, having nothing to conceal." 

The commissioners, Franklin, Deane, and Arthur 
Lee, were instructed to propose a treaty of com- 
merce to France; and to endeavour to procure 
from that Court, at the expense of the United States, 
eight ships of war, manned and fitted for service; 
to borrow money, to procure and forward military 
stores, and to fit out armed vessels under the flag 
of the United States, if the French Court did not 
disapprove this measure. They were also instructed 
to sound the views of other nations, through their 
ambassadors in France, and to endeavour to pro- 
cure from them the recognition of the independence 
of the United States. An early interview was 
given by Count Vergennes, the French Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, to the American Commissioners. 
They were promised protection while in France; 
and that all privileges would be granted to American 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 185 

commerce, that were compatible with the existing 
treaties with Great Britain. The ships of war 
were not granted ; but the commissioners were 
informed that a loan of two millions of livres would 
be made to the United States, in quarterly instal- 
ments. This information came to the commissioners 
through a private channel, and they were told that 
the loan was from generous individuals, who wished 
well to the Americans, and that it was not expected 
to be repaid until after the peace. It subsequently 
appeared that this money came from the King's 
treasury. With this money, and other loans, the 
commissioners purchased stores, supplied American 
cruisers, and built two frigates, one at Amsterdam, 
and the other at Nantz. In these operations they 
were often impeded, as the British ambassador's 
spies detected their movements, and made remon- 
strances to the PVench Court, to which, of course, 
the colour of attention was given, and the form of 
interference was resorted to. But as the commis- 
sioners knew the actual feeling of the French Gov- 
ernment, they were not deterred; but persevered, 
and by prudence and management, fulfilled the pur- 
poses of their mission, in the very delicate and 
trying circumstances in which they were placed. 
Nor did they forget the dignity due their official 



186 LIFE OF 

Station, whether Great Britain was ready to acknow- 
ledge it or not. Finding that American prisoners, 
captured at sea, were treated with unjustifiable se- 
verity by England, they wrote to Lord Stormont, the 
English ambassador in Paris, suggesting an exchange 
of prisoners. To their first communication Lord 
Stormont vouchsafed no reply. To a second note 
he answered as follows : " The Kinir's ambassador 
receives no application from rebels, unless they 
come to implore his Majesty's mercy." The com- 
missioners sent back this arrogant missive, with the 
message : " We return this indecent paper for your 
lordship's more mature consideration." The Enghsh 
ministry, however, soon after this, entered into an 
arrangement, by which the exchange of prisoners 
was conducted accordin<T to the estabhshed usao-es 
of war. The American cruisers made so many * 
captures, that policy compelled what Lord Stormont 
refused to the claims of humanity. In pleasing 
contrast to his lordship's insolent disregard of the 
common usages of civilization, we may mention 
with pride the conduct of Franklin. He wrote a 
circular letter to the American cruisers, requesting 
them, in case they should meet Captain Cook's 
vessel, on its return from a voyage of discovery, 
not to capture, detain, or plunder it of anything on 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 187 

board, but to " treat the captain and his people with 
civihty and kindness, affording them, as common 
friends of mankind, all the assistance in their 
power." In acknowledgement of this act of mag- 
nanimity, the British Board of Admiralty sent Dr. 
Franklin a copy of Cook's Voyages, when com- 
pleted, with the approbation of the King; and 
Franklin received also, one of the gold medals 
struck by the Royal Society, in honour of Captain 
Cook. Another act of Franklin's humanity was, 
the granting of an annual passport to the vesse* 
which carried supplies from London to the Moravian 
missionaries, on the coast of Labrador. He also 
gave a passport to a vessel carrying supplies from 
Dublin, to certain sufferers in the East Indies. And 
in this connection, though it does not properly be- 
long here in the order of time, we may mention, as 
indicative of Franklin's enlarged views and philan- 
thropic character, that, in the treaty between the 
United States and Prussia, he introduced an article 
against privateering, and providing for respect to 
private property, in the event of a war between the 
two nations. 

After Franklin had been nearly a year in France, 
the American successes of 1777, the capture of 
Burgoyne, and other favourable circumstances, gave 



188 LIFE OP 

the French Government warrant openly to espouse 
the cause which they had all along secretly encou- 
raged. To have embarked in a war with England, 
which alliance with the United States necessarily 
presumed, while there existed any possibility that 
the States would return or be driven back to their 
allegiance as colonies, would have been exceedingly 
imprudent and impolitic on the part of PVance. 
And there can be no doubt that the manoeuvres of 
the British ministry made the matter appear un- 
certain much longer in Europe than it did to those 
in America. The offer of pensions, offices, and a 
peerage, to buy over the leading men among the 
Americans, which was brought forward by British 
emissaries, and which Franklin treated with cutting 
sarcasm and ridicule, was unquestionably intended 
more to operate upon those in Europe, who were 
disposed to treat with the Americans, than upon 
the Americans themselves. It was desijrned to 
create doubts of the incorruptibility and patriotism 
of the republicans, and to make those waver and 
wait the issue, who were disposed to assist them. 
Had the American commissioners trifled with the 
glittering bait, or seemed at all irresolute, the con- 
sequences must have been most injurious to the 
cause of their freedom. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 189 

In the winter of 1777-8, after the news of the 
capture of Burgoyne, and the Battle of German- 
town, it was officially intimated to Dr. Franklin, 
that a renewal of the proposition for a treaty of 
commerce, with which he was charged, would be 
favourably received by the French Court. Nego- 
tiations were opened by a memorial to the Court, 
drawn up by Dr. Franklin, and signed by the com- 
missioners. On the 12th of December the first 
official meeting was held, by the Count de Ver- 
gennes and M. Gerard on the one part, and the 
American commissioners on the other ; and on the 
6th of February, 1778, two treaties were signed, 
one the treaty of commerce, proposed by the Ame- 
rican commissioners, the other a treaty of alliance, 
brought forward by the French Government, and 
contingent upon the occurrence of war between 
France and England. These two treaties were most 
liberal and magnanimous in their spirit, and no 
occasion was taken by France to obtain advantages, 
which would not have been readily granted by the 
United States in the most prosperous condition. 

On the 20th of March, Dr. Franklin and his 
colleagues were presented to the King, and officially 
recognised as the representatives of an independent 



190 LIFE OF 

nation. M. Hilliard D'Auberteuil, in describing the 
ceremony of presentation, says: 

" Dr. Franklin was accompanied and followed by 
a great number of Americans, and individuals from 
various countries, whom curiosity had drawn to- 
gether. His age, his venerable aspect, the simplicity 
of his dress, everything fortunate and remarkable 
in the life of this American, contributed to excite 
public attention. The clapping of hands and other 
expressions of joy, indicated that warmth of enthu- 
siasm which the French are more susceptible of 
than any other people, and the charm of which is 
enhanced to the object of it by their politeness and 
agreeable manners. After this audience, he crossed 
the court on his way to the office of the minister 
of foreign affairs. The multitude waited for him 
in the passage, and greeted him with their acclama- 
tions. He met with a similar reception wherever 
he appeared in Paris." 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 191 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Rejoicings at Valley Forge — Franklin appointed Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary — His onerous Duties — Letter of Count de Vergennes — The 
Treaty with England — Preparations for Franklin's Return — His 
Arrival at Philadelphia — His Welcome Home — His Election as 
President of Pennsylvania — Is chosen a Member of the Convention 
which formed the Constitution of the United States — Speeches in 
that Convention — Letter to Washington — ^Franklin's Last Illness — 
Closing Remarks. 

HE two treaties with France, signed 
by the commissioners, were trans- 
mitted to America, and at once rati- 
fied by Congress. The event was 
the theme of joy and congratulation 
throughout the country; but nowhere was 
the intelhgence received with more delight, 
than by the army encamped at Valley Forge. 
The news of the ratification of the treaties 
by Congress, was announced in a postscript to the 
Pennsylvania Gazette, the paper formerly conducted 
by Franklin, on the 2d of May ; and on the 6th, by 
order of Gen. Washington, the army celebrated the 
event with rejoicings. The news was communicated 
to the several brigades by their chaplains, who read 




193 LIFE OF 

the postscript mentioned above, offered up a thanks- 
giving to the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, 
whom it had pleased, as Washington expressed it 
in the orders of the day, " propitiously to defend 
the cause of the United American States, and, finally, 
by raising us up a powerful friend among the princes 
of the earth, to establish our liberty and indepen- 
dence on a lasting foundation." At the close of 
the parade, after a salute of thirteen guns and a 
running fire along the whole line, the army huzzaed, 
Long live the Kijig of France ! Then followed 
another salute of thirteen guns, and a similar com- 
pliment to the friendly European Powers; and, 
finally, another salute, and — Huzza for the Ameri- 
can States ! Thus happily did spring open upon the 
patriot army, after the terrible privations and hard- 
ships of that gloomy winter. 

Havinjr followed Franklin throuorh the most inte- 
resting and trying of his public trusts, and reached 
a period when the history of his official acts is 
more familiar, because more public, we shall not 
dwell upon the remainder of his political history. 
In the autumn of 1778, the commission to France 
was dissolved, and Franklin, in his 73d year, was 
appointed Minister Plenipotentiary. He remained 
in France till July, 1785, when at his earnest re- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 193 

quest a successor was appointed in Mr. Jefferson, 
and Franklin closed his official residence of eight 
years and a half at the Court of France. His 
duties during this long period were most laborious, 
and included much which did not pertain to his 
functions as a public minister. For a long time he 
was burthened with maritime and mercantile affairs, 
to attend to which consuls should have been ap- 
pointed. He wrote repeatedly to Congress, urging 
the appointment of such officers, and yet his request 
was not attended to until near the end of the war. 

Nor did Congress so much as appoint him a 
Secretary of Legation, and he was obliged to dis- 
charge his multifarious duties with such assistance 
as could be rendered by his grandson. A man of 
talents and experience would have been of vast 
relief to the septuagenarian, now afflicted with dis- 
ease, as well as the natural infirmities of age, and 
often confined to his house for many weeks. Frank- 
Hn was invaluable to his country in obtaining sup- 
plies and loans. Not one of the vast number of 
drafts drawn on him during the war was permitted 
to be protested, or to pass the time of payment ; 
notwithstanding that the failure to obtain money m 
other directions, and the exigencies of the public 
service, often threw very onerous difficulties uuon 



194 LIFE OF 

Franklin. A key to his success in meeting these 
responsibilities is found in his high character. 
Count de Vergennes wrote in 1780 to the French 
minister in the United States : " If you are ques- 
tioned respecting our opinion of Dr. Franklin, you 
may say without hesitation, that we esteem him as 
much for the patriotism as for the wisdom of his 
conduct ; and it has been owing in a great part to 
this cause, and to the confidence which we put in 
the veracity of Dr. Franklin, that we have deter- 
mined to relieve the pecuniary embarrassments in 
which he has been placed by Congress." The letter 
of Count de Vergennes was in answer to one, in 
which it was mentioned that some parties in Ame- 
rica were labouring to procure Franklin's recall. 
The Count admits that Franklin's great age made 
him less active than could be wished, but states that 
his recall would be inconvenient and disagreeable, 
and suggests the appointment of a Secretary of 
Legation. Franklin himself requested to be re- 
lieved a few months afterward, remarking that he 
was sensible of the infirmity of age, and begging 
for repose. But the importance of his services to 
his country induced Congress to delay, until, after 
his repeated requests, they appointed his successor 
m 1785, as we have already stated. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 195 

Franklin performed an important part in the ne- 
gotiation of the treaty of peace with England, the 
correspondence of that power being opened with 
him, and the preliminary steps taken by the British 
Government under his advice. There were asso- 
ciated with him, John Jay, John Adams, and Henry 
Laurens. The history of this treaty is among the 
most interesting and mooted passages in American 
diplomatic annals, but we have not the space, nor 
is this the opportunity to discuss it. The news of 
its ratification by Congress, was received with joy 
by a people wearied with a long war of resistance 
against tyranny; and the successful close of a 
struggle, commenced under circumstances so ad- 
verse, was indeed an event calculated to inspire 
hearty rejoicings. Many could join in the language 
in which Franklin addressed a friend : " Thus the 
great and hazardous enterprise we have been en- 
gaged in is, God be praised, happily completed ; an 
event I hardly expected I should live to see." The 
preliminary or provisional treaty was signed No- 
vember 30th, 1782 ; the definitive treaty on the 3d 
of September, 1783. 

After the peace Franklin's duties became much 
lighter, though his office still remained anything but 
a sinecure. When he left France, it was with the 



196 ' LIFE OF 

most affectionate wishes of his personal friends, 
and the proudest testimonials of respect from those 
with whom he had held official intercourse. His 
unobtrusive method of making the preparations for 
his departure, by which his intention was not known 
until he was on the point of putting it into execu- 
tion, prevented the tender of the high honour of a 
frigate to bear him home, which the French Minister 
of the Marine would have offered him. The Queen's 
litter, borne on Spanish mules, was obhgingly offered 
for his conveyance from Passy, near Paris, where 
he resided, to Havre de Grace ; and the six days 
occupied by this journey, were a sort of triumphal 
progress, the inhabitants of the intervening towns 
paying him distinguished honour. From Havre he 
crossed over to Southampton, where he remained 
four days, and was met by the Bishop of St. Asaph's 
and other English friends. He embarked on the 
27th of July, and arrived at Philadelphia on the 
14th of September. Active in mind still, and im- 
proving all his leisure, he wrote on this passage his 
paper on improvements in navigation, and on smoky 
chimneys, both of which were published in the 
transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 
As this capacity for mental labour would indicate, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 197 

he supported the inconveniences of the voyage re- 
markably well. 

He had need of all his physical strength to sup- 
port the gratifying enthusiasm of his reception by 
his townsmen, and to acknowledge the courteous 
and grateful welcome with which his countrymen 
received him. A large concourse of the inhabitants 
of Philadelphia met the patriot and philosopher as 
he landed at Market Street wharf. The bells rang 
peals of welcome, and cannons were fired, while a 
large body of people attended the veteran servant 
of his country to the door of his dwelling — a house 
which at one time, during the eventful years of his 
last residence abroad, had served as the quarters of 
British officers. To a friend he wrote, soon after 
he was again domiciled : " I have got into my niche, 
after being kept out of it twenty-four years by 
foreign employments. It is a very good house, that 
I built so many years ago to retire into, without 
being able until now to enjoy it. I am again sur- 
rounded by my friends, with a fine family of grand- 
children about my knees, and an afl^ectionate, good 
daughter and son-in-law to take care of me. And 
after fifty years' public service, I have the pleasure 
to find the esteem of my country with regard to 
me undiminished." 



198 LIFE OF 

General Washington and Mr. Jay were among 
the first to welcome him home, as soon as his ar- 
rival was known. The Assembly of Pennsylvania 
presented him a congratulatory address on the next 
day after he landed. The Philosophical and other 
societies, and the Fa'culty of the University, tendered 
him similar compliments, and congratulatory letters 
flowed in upon him from all directions. To these 
he returned prompt answers, and with many of the 
friends whom he had made in Europe, he kept up, 
until death, a regular and cheerful correspondence ; 
which argued that, though in body an octogenarian, 
in mind he was a youth still, in everything save 
experience. 

Nor was his public life yet ended. lie was 
hardly seated in his house, before he was elected a 
member of the Supreme Executive Council of the 
State, under the then constitution ; and the next 
autumn he was elected President of Pennsylvania, 
that being the title then of the executive. At his 
first election, he had seventy-six out of seventy- 
seven votes, the President being elected by the 
Council and Assembly ; and at the next two elec- 
tions he received a unanimous vote ; being chosea 
for three years, and ineligible by the constitution for 
a fourth term. In 1787 he was chosen a member 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 199 

of the convention which met in Philadelphia for the 
formation of the Constitution of the United States ; 
and, although now in his 82d year, he was regular 
in his attendance, and an active member of the 
convention. His speeches, some of which were 
written out and published, were short, but clear, 
practical, and to the point. We subjoin two speci- 
mens. The first accompanied a motion for daily 
prayers, the convention having then been some weeks 
in session, without making much progress. 

" In the beginning of the contest with Britain," 
said he, " when we were sensible of danger, we had 
daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. 
Our prayers, sir, were heard ; and they were gra- 
ciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in 
the struggle, must have observed frequent instances 
of a superintending Providence in our favour. To 
that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity 
of consulting in peace on the means of establishing 
our future national felicity. And have we now for- 
gotten that powerful friend ? or do we imagine we 
no longer need his assistance? I have lived, sir, a 
long time ; and the longer I live, the more convincing 
proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the 
affairs of men. And, if a sparrow cannot fall to the 
ground without his notice, is it probable that an 



200 LIFE OF 

empire can rise without his aid ? We have been 
assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that, ' except 
the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that 
build it.' I firmly believe this ; and I also believe 
that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed 
in this political building no better than the builders 
of Babel ; we shall be divided by our little, partial, 
local interests, our projects will be confounded, and 
we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by- 
word down to future ages. And what is worse, 
mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate 
instance, despair of establishing government by 
human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and 
conquest. I therefore beg leave to move, that 
henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of 
Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be 
held in this assembly every morning before we pro- 
ceed to business ; and that one or more of the clergy 
of this city be requested to officiate in that service." 
This motion did not prevail ; perhaps from the 
feeling of the members that, as they had begun 
wrong in this particular, so would they persist — a 
very common but lame excuse for the neglect of our 
duties. The conclusion of his speech upon the 
adoption of the constitution, contains sentiments 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 201 

which would do much benefit, if generally adopted 
now in our country. 

" I consent to this constitution, because I expect 
no better, and because I am not sure that it is not 
the best. The opinions I have had of its errors I 
sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered 
a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they 
were born, and here they shall die. If every one 
of us, in returning to our constituents, were to report 
the objections he has had to it, and endeavour to 
gain partisans in support of them, we might prevent 
its being generally received, and thereby lose all the 
salutary effects and great advantages resulting natu- 
rally in our favour among foreign nations, as well 
as among ourselves, from our real or apparent una- 
nimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of 
any government, in procuring and securing happi- 
ness to the people, depends on opinion, on the general 
opinion of the goodness of that government, as well 
as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. 
I hope, therefore, for our own sakes, as a part of 
the people, and for the sake of our posterity, that 
we shall act heartily and unanimously in recom- 
mending this constitution, wherever our influence 
may extend, and turn our future thoughts and en- 
deavours to the means of having it well administered. 



202 LIFE OF 

On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish, 
that every member of the convention who may still 
have objections to it, would with me on this occasion 
doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make 
manifest our unanimity^ put his name to this instru- 
ment." 

It was one of Dr. Franklin's opinions, that in a 
democratic government there should be no offices 
of profit ; for he held that the pleasure of serving 
one's country, and the respect which office confers, 
form a sufficient reward, and in a pecuniary point, 
the officer elected by the people should be content 
with a bare support. And as his circumstances 
were easy, and he did not need the salary of Presi- 
dent of Pennsylvania, he devoted it to purposes of 
public utility. For the whole of his public life, it 
has been computed, that his perquisites and salaries 
were not equivalent to his expenses. While thus 
engaged in public business, he still found time to 
pursue his philosophical inquiries. He acted also 
as President of the Philosophical Society, and the 
societies for political inquiry, and for alleviating the 
miseries of prisons ; besides presiding over others, 
and maintaining his interest in various associations 
for the public benefit. He was indefatigable to the 
last, retaining his active solicitude for the Academy, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 203 

now the University, the estabhshment of which he 
had promoted forty years before; and writing several 
articles for pubhcation, upon that subject and others. 
The last efforts of his pen, for the public eye, were 
devoted to humane and philanthropic purposes, the 
relief of the suffering and the defence of the weak. 
How much he sufl!ered himself, and how reasonably, 
had he been a selfish man, he might have restricted 
his thoughts to his own case, may be gathered from 
the following extract of a letter to Gen. Washington, 
written on the 16th of September, 1789, and affec- 
tionately answered by his illustrious compatriot, 
who never let an opportunity pass of paying per- 
gonal respect to Franklin : 

" My malady renders my sitting up to write rather 
painful to me ; but I cannot let my son-in-law, Mr. 
Bache, part for New York, without congratulating 
you by him on the recovery of your health, so pre- 
cious to us all, and on the growing strength of our 
new government under your administration. For 
my own personal ease I should have died two years 
ago; but, though those years have been spent in 
excruciating pain, I am pleased that I have lived 
them, since they have brought me to see our present 
situation. I am now finishing my eighty-fourth 
year, and probably with it my career in this life ; 



204 



LIFE OF 



but, in "whatever state of existence I am placed 
hereafter, if I retain any memory of what has passed 
here, I shall with it retain the esteem, respect, and 
affection, with which I have long been, my dear 
friend, yours most sincerely." 

Thus he remained until the April following. The 
subjoined account of his last illness, is from the pen 
of Dr. John Jones, his physician : 

" The stone, with which he had been afflicted for 
several years, iiad, for the last twelve months of his 
life, confined him chiefly to his bed ; and, during the 
extremely painful paroxysms, he was obliged to take 
large doses of laudanum to mitigate his tortures. 
Still, in the intervals of pain, he not only amused 
himself by reading, and conversing cheerfully with 
his family and a few friends who visited him, but 
was often employed in doing business of a public, 
as well as of a private nature, with various persons 
who waited upon him for that purpose; and in every 
instance, displayed not only the readiness and dis- 
position to do good, which were the distinguishing 
characteristics of his life, but the fullest and clearest 
possession of his uncommon abilities. He also not 
unfrequently indulged in those jciix cfesprit and 
entertaining anecdotes, which were the dehght of 
all who heard them. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 205 

"About sixteen days before his death, he was 
seized with a feverish disposition, without any par- 
ticular symptoms attending it till the third or fourth 
day, when he complained of a pain in his left breast, 
which increased till it became extremely acute, at- 
tended by a cough and laborious breathing. During 
this state, when the severity of his pains drew forth 
a groan of complaint, he would observe, that he was 
afraid he did not bear them as he ought ; acknow- 
ledging his grateful sense of the many blessings he 
had received from the Supreme Being, who had 
raised him, from small and low beginnings, to such 
high rank and consideration among men; and made 
no doubt but that his present afflictions were kindly 
intended to wean him from a world in which he was 
no longer fit to act the part assigned him. In this 
frame of body and mind he continued, until five 
days before his death, when the pain and difficulty 
of breathing entirely left him, and his family were 
flattering themselves with the hopes of his recovery; 
but an imposthume which had formed in his lungs, 
suddenly burst, and discharged a quantity of matter, 
which he continued to throw up while he had power; 
but, as that failed, the organs of respiration became 
gradually oppressed ; a calm, lethargic state suc- 
ceeded ; and, on the 17th instant (April, 1790), 
about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, 



206 LIFE OF 

closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years 
and three months." 

The funeral ceremonies took place on the 21st of 
April, attended by a concourse of people, computed 
at from twenty to twenty-five thousand. The city 
authorities, the Legislature of Pennsylvania, the 
faculty and students of the University, and all, or 
nearly all the literary and other societies of Phila- 
delphia attended, to testify their respect to the 
memory of the philosopher, the patriot, and philan- 
thropist. Muffled bells tolled during the progress of 
the ceremony, and as the earth closed over the great 
dead, discharges of artillery marked the conclusion 
of all that respect and affection could do for the 
mortal remains of Benjamin Franklin. He was 
interred by the side of his wife, in the cemetery of 
Christ Church, at the corner of Mulberry (or Arch) 
and Fifth streets. A plain marble slab, bearing no 
other inscription than their names and the time of 
their decease, marks the spot. 

The Congress of the United States was in session 
at New York at the time of Franklin's decease, and 
passed an appropriate resolution, directing the 
wearing of the customary badge of mourning for 
thirty days. Dr. William Smith, Provost of the 
College, and a member of the Philosophical Society, 
delivered a eulogy on the character of the sapje, by 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 207 

appointment of the Society ; and President Stiles, 
of Yale College, by appointment of the faculty, 
delivered a Latin oration. 

When the intelligence of the death of Franklin 
was received in France, the event was solemnly and 
feelingly announced in the Assembly, and a motion, 
of which Rochefoucault and Lafayette were the 
seconders, was unanimously carried, that the Na- 
tional Assembly wear mourning for three days. 
The Assembly also ordered a bust of Franklin to be 
placed in their hall. The authorities of Paris ordered 
a public celebration in honour of his memory. The 
Abbe Fauchet pronounced a eulogy in the rotunda 
of the corn market, the auditors of which were all 
arrayed in mourning ; and the place was also hung 
with tokens of the same character. The ceremony 
was most solemn and impressive. Official accounts 
of these proceedings were transmitted to Congress, 
and appropriately acknowledged. 

Of the two sons of Dr. Franklin, one, William, 
died in London, in 1813, leaving an only son, since 
dead without issue. The other son died in child- 
hood. There are, therefore, no living descendants 
of Dr. Franklin, bearing his name. His daughter 
Sarah married Richard Bache in 1767, and died in 
1808. Their descendants are numerous. 



208 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

In Dr. Franklin's will, many testimonials were 
distributed to Washington and others of his friends, 
and many affectionate memorials to connections; 
his daughter Sarah receiving the larger portion of 
his estate. To the city (then town) of Boston, he 
gave one hundred pounds sterling, the interest to be 
applied annually to the purchase of silver medals, 
as honorary rewards to pupils in the grammar 
schools. He gave also one thousand pounds each 
to Philadelphia and Boston, to be loaned in small 
sums to young mechanics. The medal bequest 
has answered the purpose of the testator ; the other 
legacies have been less useful; though that fact does 
not detract from the excellence of the motive in the 
donation, which was to encourage industry, frugality, 
and integrity. 

Industry, Frugality, INTEGRITY — such are 
the leading lessons of Franklin's Life. From 
them, all other virtues, under Providence, are derived. 
But the foundation of all virtue is trust in God, and 
prayer for His assistance : the reward of all is grati- 
tude to that Heavenly Father, who has made, in his 
wisdom, our habitual acknowledgement of his mer- 
cies the greatest and best mode of enjoying them. 

THE END. 



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